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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Sep 27 2010 - 13:18:02 EDT
Somali Sufi Group Backs Out of Government Power-Sharing Deal
27 September 2010
Alisha Ryu | Nairobi
A leader of Somalia's moderate Islamist Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a group
says members of al-Shabab are holding top positions in the U.N.-backed
Transitional Federal Government. The accusation follows the Sufi
group's withdrawal from a power-sharing deal it signed with the
government six months ago.
VOA
The chairman of Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a's Shura Council, Sheik Omar
Sheik Abdul Karidir, says his group has documents that show some
leaders of the Transitional Federal Government are also members of
al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group fighting to topple the
government.
The Sufi cleric did not provide any details and declined to name the
government officials he says are connected to al-Shabab. But Karidir
says his group will no longer - in his words - "cooperate with an
insincere government."
In March, the transitional government signed a power-sharing deal with
a faction of Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a in Addis Ababa. The deal called for
Ahlu-Sunna to back the government in its fight against al-Shabab in
exchange for several Cabinet positions. But on Saturday, the Sufi
group said it was pulling out of the deal because the government had
failed to live up to its promises.
Ahlu-Sunna's allegation against members of the transitional government
has not been independently verified. But similar reports have been
circulating since mid-2008, when an Islamist opposition faction based
in Eritrea joined the secular government in a U.N.-sponsored
power-sharing deal. The leader of the Islamist faction, Sharif Sheik
Ahmed, subsequently became president of an expanded Transitional
Federal Government, which pledged to defeat al-Shabab and curb
extremism.
International Crisis Group Horn of Africa analyst E. J. Hogendoorn
says despite Mr. Sharif's new role as an ally of the West, he has been
dogged by rumors that he and many other former members of the
Eritrean-based faction are adherents of the ultra-conservative
Wahhabist strain of Islam.
"There have been lots of allegations that Sheik Sharif has been
sympathetic to the goals of al-Shabab - that is the establishment of a
Wahhabi state, which is obviously something that Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a
would be very much opposed to," said Hogendoorn.
Many elements of Wahhabism are embraced by al-Shabab and another
radical Somali insurgent group, Hizbul Islam. Hizbul Islam is led by
Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who was a close associate of President
Sharif before he joined the transitional government.
Hogendoorn says although there is no evidence to suggest members of
the government are working hand-in-hand with al-Shabab, there are
senior officials in government, who are likely to have deeply angered
the Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a faction that signed the power-sharing deal.
"What happened was the international community pressured the
Transitional Federal Government and Ahlu-Sunna to form an alliance,"
said Hogendoorn. "There are Islamists in the Transitional Federal
Government, who are opposed to Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a's vision. There
are also actors, who are worried about Ahlu-Sunna becoming too
powerful. So, there are a number of individuals, who would like to
undermine the organization."
Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a's withdrawal from government is likely to cause
further turmoil in an administration that has long suffered internal
divisions. Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
resigned last week following a bitter power struggle with President
Sharif.
The United States and the United Nations, which provide the bulk of
the funding for the Transitional Federal Government, have urged
leaders to pull together and bring stability to the country before its
mandate ends next August.
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