Aweys Among 7 Suspected Terrorists Being ‎Tried In Absentia By A Hargeysa Court‎‎

Hassan Dahir Aweys

Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 1, 2006 (SL Times) – Hassan Dahir Aweys, the man who has emerged as the leader of the Mogadishu-based Somali Shurra Council of Islamic Courts is among 15 men being tried by Hargeysa regional court in connection with a failed terrorist attack in Hargeysa in September 2005.

In a midnight raid attack conducted on September 22 against a house in the most easterly section of Hargeysa city, Somaliland police apprehended 4 suspects following a firefight that continued for at least two hours. There were more arrests made in the next few days following the raid attack.

Only eight suspects appeared before the court on Wednesday, with the remaining 7 including Hassan Dahir Aweys, being tried in absentia.

The eight suspects in custody were identified as Abdirahman Osman Yusuf, Abdirahman Mohmud Jama Indha’ade, Ahmed Ali Hussein, Mohamed Shiekh Ismail, Mohamed Ibrahim, Abdillahi Ahmed Mahmud, Mohamed Mahmud Nur (Farur) and Mussa Ali Yusuf.

The suspects were charged with involvement in conspiracy to commit terror, destruction, pillage and slaughter in the territories of Somaliland, bringing unlawful arms including explosives into the country and wounding at least 3 policemen.

The defendants were charged under article 222 of the penal code which carries the death penalty.

However all the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges during Wednesday’s hearing.

According to the prosecutors, the 15 accused men belong to a Mogadishu-based Jihadist group headed by Hassan Dahir Aweys and Adan Hashi Ayro.

Some of the evidence collected was said to include video tapes in which Hassan Dahir Aweys and Ayro appear to advise the suspects in custody on the need to eliminate influence of “infidels” and to undermine Somaliland’s forthcoming September 2005 parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile Hassan Dahir Aweys has declined to deny that he had links with terrorism. In a BBC interview broadcast on Friday, Aweys insisted that terrorism was an American ploy to discredit Islam.

Source: Somaliland Times