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The Supreme Islamic Courts Council (or Conservative Council of Islamic Courts), as the Islamist militia called itself by July 2006, was called the Islamic Courts Union before 24 June 2006 (ICU, Somali: Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga, Arabic: اتحاد المحاكم الإسلامية Ittihād al-mahākim al-islāmiyya) (which is also known as the Joint Islamic Courts), is a group of Islamic leaders banded together in a self-appointed court system with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as overall leader. Currently they are in control of Mogadishu – the de facto capital of Somalia, Jowhar – an airport town 50 miles to the north and capital of Shabeellaha Dhexe, Kismayo – an important port on the south coast and capital of Jubbada Hoose, Beledweyne – the capital of Hiiraan region, Dusa Mareb – capital of Galguduud, Hobyo – an important commercial port, and many other smaller towns and cities throughout central Somalia.
After the militia changed its name, Hassan Dahir Aweys became its overall leader, though Sharif Ahmed remained in charge of the executive council.
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History
After the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, a system of sharia-based Islamic courts became the main judicial system, funded by fees paid by litigants. Over time the courts began to offer other services such as education and health care. The courts also acted as local police forces, being paid by local businesses to reduce crime. The ICU took on responsibility for halting robberies and drug-dealing, as well as stopping the showing of what it claims to be pornographic films in local movie houses. Somalia is almost entirely Muslim, and these institutions had wide public support. Supporters of the Islamic courts and other institutions united to form the ICU, an armed militia. In 1999 the group began to assert its authority. In April of that year they took control of the main market in Mogadishu and, in July, captured the road from Mogadishu to Afgoi.
However, as the courts began to assert themselves as the dispensers of justice they came into conflict with the secular warlords who controlled most of the city. In reaction to the growing power of the ICU, a group of Mogadishu warlords formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT). This was a major change, as these warlords had been fighting each other for many years. By the beginning of 2006, these two groups had repeatedly clashed, and in May 2006 it escalated into street fighting in the capital, claiming the lives of more than 300 people. On 5 June 2006, the ICU claimed that they were now in control of Mogadishu.
While, in the United States, the Bush administration neither confirmed nor denied support, American officials have anonymously confirmed that the U.S. government was funding the ARPCT, due to concerns that the ICU is linked to al-Qaeda and is sheltering three al-Qaeda leaders involved in past terror attacks, including the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. There are fears in the U.S. that the ICU's victory may complicate the "War on Terrorism".
On 6 June 2006 the ICU further claimed it was in control of all the lands up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) inland from Mogadishu. The warlords were reported to have either been captured or to have fled the city, abandoning most of their weapons, with the majority fleeing to Jowhar, which was taken by the ICU militia on 14 June. The ICU now has control of much of the weaponry in the country which makes a resurgence by the warlords difficult without outside support. The ICU also controls significant territory outside the capital, which includes the important town of Balad. In mid-August, ICU militiamen swept into the port town of Hobyo 500 kilometers north of Mogadishu, meeting no opposition. The ICU organized a clean-up campaign for the streets of Mogadishu on 20 July. This was the first time litter and rubbish had been collected in the entire city since it collapsed into anarchy over a decade previously.
The only other major power in central Somalia is the Somali Transitional Government. As a result of the collapse of the warlords' power, the four warlord representatives in the transitional government were stripped of their cabinet posts. The transitional government is based in Baidoa, 250 kilometers from Mogadishu. After the ICU victory in Mogadishu, the transitional government voted to request foreign peacekeepers from the African Union. The African Union supports the transitional government, and would serve to defend it against the forces of the ICU. The ICU has rejected the need for peacekeepers, arguing Somalia needs aid, not more fighters. The Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi states that he would like to meet with the ICU leaders. This has resulted in the Treaty of Khartoum of 5 September 2006, in which it was agreed that the ICU and the Transitional Government would be merged; however, the ICU insisted on the precondition that Ethiopian troops would have to leave the country beforehand.
The two other major power centres in the country are the governments of Puntland and Somaliland, both of which assert their autonomy or, in the case of Somaliland, independence.
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Structure and composition
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Chairman Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is seen as a moderate and he has repeatedly declared that the objective of the ICU is the restoration of order after 15 years of violence. However, of the eleven courts composing the Union, two have reputations as radical. One is led by Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the U.S. list of terrorism suspects as the former head of the al-Itihaad al-Islamiya group, which has been linked to al-Qaeda. Western diplomats are also concerned by a second leader, Adan Hashi Ayro, who was trained in Afghanistan and whose militia has been implicated in the deaths of five foreign aid workers and a BBC producer. All but one of the Courts is dominated by the Hawiye clan. Suspects from the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings are believed to be hiding in Somalia, and to be aided by the ICU. There have also been reports of foreign mujahideen fighting alongside the ICU. It is widely believed that the U.S. has provided funding for the secular warlord alliance due to these fears. However, Somalia has little history of radical Islam and the ICU has not embraced the most extreme forms of Islamic law, such as amputation of thieves' hands.
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Military commanders
Shaykh Hasan Hersi "Turki" is described as the liberator of Kismayo. He is leader of the Shabab group (a youth Islamic organisation). He has admitted at rallies in Kismayo on September 27, 2006 that "brothers in Islam" helped the Islamic Courts drive the former Jubba Valley Alliance (JVA) out of Kismayu. These traveling foreign Islamists were featured in a fundraising video that has circulated at least since April 2006, as the ICU moved to control Mogadishu. News report's of his takeover describe that he liberated Kismayo peacefully from local warlord Barre Hirale who fled to Bardera. This strategic takeover of Kismayo to pre-empt the supposed IGAD and TFG plans of deploying African Union forces through Kismayo port and is described by his supporters as a testimony to the shrewdness, forethought and genius.
Shaykh Yusuf Siad "Inda-Addeh" serves as deputy and financier for Hasan Dahir Aweys. He is the chief security of Islamic Courts. He is controversial for the fact that he was a former warlord who occupied Lower Shabeele in 2003. He later allied himself with the Islamic Courts. Cynics wondered why the Islamic Courts advanced to central and south Somalia regions, including the Kismayo area, before disarming warlord Inda-Addeh and taking control of Lower Shabelle region. However, the Lower Shabelle was officially handed over to the Islamic Courts in October 2006 and is no longer administered by Inda-Addeh.
Shaykh Mukhtar Robow, deputy chief security of the Islamic Courts is the liberator of Jowhar. He liberated Jowhar in June 2006 peacefully, from local warlord Mohamed Dheere. He is also credited with being instrumental in the victory of the Second Battle of Mogadishu against the ARPCT (Supposed American backed warlords).
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Social Legacy
Islamic courts are widely seen by mainstream Somalis and independent observers as a justly revolutionnary movement by the Somali people against iniquity, tribalism, rape, plunder and theft.
In the year 2000, the courts formed a union of Islamic courts, partly to consolidate resources and power and partly to aid in handing down decisions across, rather than within, clan lines.
In an interview with BBC Somali section in June 2006, Sheik Sharif Shaykh Ahmed said the union of Islamic courts was established to ensure the Somali suffering people for 15 years to gain peace and full justice and free from the anarchic rule of warlords who refuted their people to no direction.
Somalia is at a watershed period in its development and progression. Since victory against the ARPCT, the Islamic Courts have enacted a series of decrees and laws that have led to hope for the future of Somali expatriates, local minorities, businessmen and women.
On July 15 2006, the Islamic Courts opened the historical Mogadishu airport which had been shut down by warlords for 11 years. Mogadishu international airport had been closed since the withdrawal of the international forces in 1995 when rival faction leaders disagreed to offer the public service. In the final years, it was occupied by local thugs.The first airplane chartered by the Arab League flew from the airport for the first time in 11 years picking up Islamic Courts delegates to Sudanese capital Khartoum.
On August 15 2006, the UIC captured Haradhere, some 500km northeast of Mogadishu, which had become a safe haven for pirates. Sheikh Ahmed said UIC forces went to Haradhere to deal with pirates who had made the Somali coast a no-go area. "The activities of these people pirates had made life very difficult for ordinary Somalis," he said. "Ships were refusing to deliver food to Somalia for fear of being hijacked. We were asked to do something about it and we did." The liberation of Haradhere has dealt a blow to pirates and given a boost to business and security in Somalia. This ended a long period of fear for International maritime communications as shipping firms and international organisations had been forced to pay large ransoms for the release of vessels and crews.[ http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55122&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry]
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SOMALIA SOMALIA: Transitional govt, Islamic courts agree to talks], IRIN, August 15 2006
On August 23 2006, the Islamic courts issued a directive banning the sale of charcoal, rare birds and rare animals. The Executive Committee of the Islamic Courts issued the directive after a full committee meeting agreed to the ban, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the UIC Vice-Chairman, said. "The decision was reached after the committee was briefed on the dangers posed by the indiscriminate cutting of our trees," he said. Almost all the charcoal goes to the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, where a bag fetches about US $15. Local bandits and thugs were cutting down trees and burning them into charcoal. It was causing major destruction of the ecosystem, soil erosion and water scarcity. [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55234&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry]
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SOMALIA SOMALIA: Islamic courts ban trade in charcoal and wildlife], IRIN, August 23 2006
On August 25 2006, the Islamic Courts opened historical Mogadishu seaport. Shut down by warlords for the past 10 years, Mogadishu's port used to be one of the busiest in East Africa, before the conflict led to its closure. On that day, hundreds of people went to the port to see the ship, which arrived from Kenya carrying goods such as TVs and coffee. The port opened in circa 900 AD and described by Ibn Batuta's fourth trip (1328) as the busiest and richest port of the east African coast.
On September 21 2006, the Islamic Courts issued a decree forbidding the sale of khat (a narcotic drug) in the daylight during the holy month of Ramadan. Mostly consumed in Somalia and imported from mainly Kenya, it is widely seen as destructive for families, loss of income, waste of productivity and the primary cause of banditry and drug addiction. On October 2, from Kismayo, the Islamic Courts burnt in public seven bags of Khat imported from Kenya which caused anger among Khat traders who instigated riots to express their dissatisfaction.
On October 5, 2006 the Islamic Courts declared the formation of the supreme Islamic Sharia court of Banadir province. The announcement ceremony attended by all Islamic officials; both consultative and executive councils, intellectuals and civil society members took place in former villa Somalia presidential palace in central Mogadishu. The latest announcement of the central Islamic Court ends all tribal Islamic Courts in the capital.
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