Friday, September 14, 2007
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dozen sharia tribunals which emerged in the late 1990s to impose order on Mogadishu.
* Ahmed's movement took Mogadishu, and most of south Somalia, from warlords by force in mid-2006. During a six-month rule, it was credited with bringing peace and stability to the region, for the first time in 15 years, but was also criticised for hardline religious practices like banning public cinemas.
* After the Islamic Courts' movement was routed by allied Ethiopian and Somali government troops at the end of 2006, leaders, fighters and supporters scattered either to hideouts in Somalia or abroad. Ahmed surrendered to Kenyan authorities on the border in January, but was released days later.
* Viewed by the West as a moderate and a possible key to reconciliation in Somali politics, Ahmed has had contacts with Washington including a meeting with the U.S. envoy to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, in January.
* Ahmed has a softly spoken, scholarly demeanour, frequently citing the Koran in his discourse, joking occasionally, and avoiding the more militant rhetoric of some other Islamists.
* Ahmed rejects suggestions his Islamic courts movement harbours foreign extremists or is linked to al Qaeda. "I will repeat and repeat, there are no al Qaeda in Somalia. We are not terrorists ... Why does George Bush hate me?" he told Reuters last year.
Sources: Sharif Sheikh Ahmed himself and aides, analysts.
Source: Reuters, Sept 14, 2007