Somali leader denies terror claim

Profile: Sheikh Aweys

One of Somalia's new Islamist leaders has denied US claims that he is linked to terrorism.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, head of the Council of Islamic Courts which has recently taken control of Mogadishu, was speaking during a BBC phone-in.

He has been on the US list of people "linked to terrorism" since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Sheikh Aweys said the case against him was built on false allegations from enemies in Ethiopia.

"There was a war with Ethiopia. The Ethiopians infiltrated into Somalia and we fought with them. They interpreted this fighting as terrorism.

"America took it from them that this was true, but it was not. And we did not fight with Americans - we have never harmed Americans in any way," he said in response to a question from a caller.

US fears

Mr Aweys fought in the two countries' war for the region in the 1970s.

Ethiopia also played a key role in defeating his Islamist militia al-Itihaad al-Islamiya - described by the US as "terrorist" - in the 1990s.

The US and Ethiopia have been concerned by the speed at which the Islamic Courts has taken control of the Somali capital and several other towns in recent weeks.

The US fears that a Somalia run by Islamists could be used by Islamic fighters linked to al-Qaeda.

The Islamist leader took questions from a range of contributors phoning in from the Middle East, the United States, Britain and Africa, and also from several towns in Somalia itself.

He said that if the Islamic Courts believed he was a liability for Somalia, he would step down.

The US is widely believed to have backed, as part of its war on terror, the warlords in Mogadishu that the Islamic Courts defeated to take control of the capital.

Truce

Mr Aweys' Islamist group is to hold talks with the weak interim government next month.

Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf strongly opposes political Islam, and is in favour of the deployment of peacekeepers - which the Islamists strongly oppose.

The two groups last week agreed not to fight each other, amid fears of renewed conflict in Somalia, which has not had an effective national government for 15 years.

Mr Aweys is the head of the council of the Union of Islamic Courts.

Another key leader, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, was previously chairman and now heads the executive committee.

It is still not clear which man is more powerful.