Suspected al-Qaida Aide Leads Somali Group

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062400627.html

I don't think I like these militia men who have siezed control in Somalia, but I've noticed that the Adminstration just calls anyone and everyone "Al Qaida." The original "Al Qaida" was a tiny network of very few men. It can't possibly be as large as these people claim. It's a boogeyman, mostly.

in Somalia of late. I'm lost on that. As were many in the State Department, Justice Department, UN, and elsewhere.

"The militia said in a statement it had appointed Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who the Bush administration says was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s."

I thought they were our heroes when they were killing Russians (Rambo III movie or something like that).

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -

A fundamentalist Muslim who the U.S. suspects of collaborating with al-Qaida terrorists was named Saturday as the new leader of an Islamic militia that has seized control of Somalia's capital.

The militia, which changed its name Saturday from the Islamic Courts Union to the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, said in a statement it had appointed Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as its new leader. The Bush administration has said Aweys was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s.

The Islamic militia seized control of the capital Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia from an alliance of warlords earlier this month. Aweys' appointment makes it unlikely that the increasingly powerful militia will govern using the moderate brand of Islam practiced by most Somalis.

The appointment is also likely to stoke Washington's long-standing fears that the chaotic Horn of Africa nation will become a safe haven for bin Laden's terror network much like Afghanistan did in the 1990s.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-af/2006/jun/24/062409346.html

Just askin'.

eh this story makes my head hurt, the U.S. state department is a bunch of hacks. Breaking news U.S. Secretary of Defense found to be a collaborator of Saddam Hussein.

administration. However, it really makes me mad when they act as if this religion should somehow be confined to one nation. For heaven's sake, religion is a separate thing from government and thus has no borders. For example the Catholic Church is not Italian. It is found in every country in the world. Why would we expect an Islamic religion to have borders. They more than likely have members in much of the world. So should it surprise us that they are in Somalia?