Somali Islamist leader dismisses reports about his death

June 7, 2009 (MOGADISHU) — Hassan Dahir Aweys, a Somali rebel leader, on Sunday played down reports about his death describing it as “propaganda”.

Somali government allied militia, Ahl Al-Sunna Wa Al-Jamma claimed Saturday that Aweys had been shot in intense battles in Wabho town near the border with Ethiopia on Friday and died of wounds later.

Aweys, the chairman of the hard-line Hizub Al-Islami, told reporters he would hold a press conference Monday to speak about the latest fighting with the pro-government militias. But he refused to comment on the reports about his death.

There were also rumours among militia fighters that another rebel leader, Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, was among the 123 combatants who died in the fighting around Wabho.

Hozub Al-Islami and the Shebab are the two main insurgent groups that are fighting the UN backed the government of Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the African troops in the capital Mogadishu.

Aweys and Sharif were two of the Islamist leaders who took over most of Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by an Ethiopian invasion in support of the transitional federal government.

Aweys, who returned from two years in exile in Eritrea in June, demands the departure of the African peacekeepers, and to implement the Islamic legislation in the country.

(ST)