Sharif Ahmed Steps Down from Islamic Courts Union

Sharif Ahmed Steps Down from Islamic Courts Union - I believe this is a concesion to Robow and the Shabaab- Somalia Islamists are aiming at reconcilation to make the Emirate of Somalia work.... Watch for other alignment or battles between groups as negotiations occur.

-Shimron


(Apprciation to Terror Free Somolia)

BELETWEIN, Somalia Nov 5 (Garowe Online) - Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the opposition leader in Somalia, has announced that he is stepping down as executive head of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).

In a BBC Somali Service interview, Sheikh Sharif said the ICU is planning to hold a general congress and elect new leadership.

Nov. 4: Sheikh Sharif lands in Beletwein/GO"I am not ready to become a candidate because I have been holding [the post] for a long time and I must now give an opportunity to new people," Sheikh Sharif said.

He offered an ambiguous answer when asked whether or not he will join the Somali Transitional Federal Government a charge often voiced by ICU hardliners who have rejected the Djibouti Agreement.

• This week, Sheikh Sharif led a delegation to Somalia that includes other officers of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), an opposition coalition formed in Eritrea in 2007 but split into rival factions after the Djibouti Agreement was signed to end the two-year insurgency.
  
• The ARS delegation has been warmly received in Jowhar and Beletwein, two provincial capitals controlled by ICU forces.
• Ahmed Abdullahi, spokesman for Sheikh Sharif's delegation, told reporters Wednesday that the ARS delegation has met with ICU officials and traditional elders in Beletwein.
  "Sheikh Sharif presented our [ARS] political agenda and urged all groups to support the peace process," the spokesman said.
• He welcomed a recent fatwa issued by a group of Islamic scholars that called for the ICU to hold a general conference this month inside Somalia intended to settle internal political differences.
• READ: Big welcome for Islamist chief in central Somalia

The Rest @ Garowe Online