Aweys takes Control of Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) Killing Somalia Peace Accord

(allAfrica -Garowe) An exiled Somali Islamist leader has declared himself the new chairman of an opposition coalition, which is led by another Islamist who inked a peace pact with the country's Ethiopian-backed interim government on June 9th.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who lives in Eritrea, told the BBC Somali Service on Tuesday that he is now chairman of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), a coalition formed in September 2007 in Asmara that is composed of Islamists, ex-lawmakers and Diaspora activists.

"These men left...and the place [ARS] cannot be without leadership," Sheikh Aweys said, while referring to ARS Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Central Committee head Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden.

Sheikh Aweys, whom the U.S. government accuses of having terror links, rejected the Djibouti Accord between the Somali government and the ARS as "dividing the people."

When asked if he was anti-peace, the Islamist leader responded by questioning how genuine the governments of Ethiopia and Somalia are about the prospects of peace in the country.

"There is no pure, dependable peace included in it [Djibouti Accord]," Sheikh Aweys said, adding: "The biggest problem is that Ethiopia is supposed to be expelled from the country [Somalia] and the expulsion of Ethiopia is not very clear in the paper [Djibouti Accord]."

The sheikh suggested that there is no question about the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia, saying: "Ethiopia will leave, God willing."But he said the difference was in the way the Ethiopian army left Somali soil:

"The United Nations and the [Somali] Transitional Government want Ethiopia to leave saviors and helpers, but we want Ethiopia to withdraw as criminals who attacked a Muslim country."

In 2006, Sheikh Aweys and Sheikh Sharif were the twin heads of the Islamic Courts movement that seized the capital Mogadishu from warlords and threatened the Transitional Government and its Ethiopian allies with war.

Analysts describe Sheikh Aweys as a hardliner, while Sheikh Sharif has been embraced by many for his moderate qualities.

But one Islamist insider, who spoke with Garowe Online on the condition of anonymity, said that commanders of the Somali insurgency "are more in line" with Sheikh Aweys' position on the Djibouti peace deal.

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Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia Split with al Shabaab

Somalia's opposition alliance elects Islamist as chief14 Sep 14, 2007 - 6:39:31 AM

ASMARA, Eritrea Sep 14 (Garowe Online) - A gathering of Somali opposition figures in the Eritrean capital Asmara has elected the officials who would lead the executive and legislative branches of the organization, sources said.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was elected overnight Thursday as chairman of the executive committee of the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia, a coalition of opposition forces intent on forcing Ethiopian troop withdrawal from Somalia.

Sheikh Sharif, Somali opposition leaderThe ALS includes Islamic Courts clerics, former Somali lawmakers who refer to themselves as the "Free Parliament," civil society and Diaspora activists.

(Picture from Garowe online)

The 10-day opposition conference that led to the declaration of ALS opened last week in Asmara, only days after the Somali government concluded a clan peace conference in the capital Mogadishu.

Formerly the executive head of the Islamic Courts, Sheikh Sharif has been viewed by many diplomats as a moderate voice within Somalia's Islamist organization.

He was detained by Kenyan security forces earlier this year following the Islamist militia's retreat from Mogadishu in the face of Ethiopian forces, but was later released.

The "central committee" of the ALS, powered with legislative authority, elected Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan as its new head. Sharif Hassan was deposed as Somalia's parliament Speaker in January for his close ties to the Islamists.

It's not clear whether or not this opposition alliance wields any real authority inside Somalia, especially in Mogadishu where insurgents continue their daily guerrilla war against Somali and Ethiopian government forces.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the Islamists' most influential cleric, is present in Asmara despite repeated complaints from the U.S. government.

But his real influence in Mogadishu seems questionable, as a new brand of Islamist fighters ("al Shabaab") responsible for the Mogadishu insurgency issued a statement strongly condemning the Asmara conference and distancing themselves from Islamic Courts leaders in Eritrea.

The al Shabaab group, led by former Aweys protégé and Taliban-trained Adan Hashi Ayro, argued in a statement posted online that the "Asmara Conference is forcing the Jihad to loose its way."

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