Nairobi, Kenya – A top leader of Somalia’s ousted Islamic movement, apparently afraid for his life now that the once-powerful militia has been chased into hiding, has surrendered and is in custody in neighboring Kenya, officials said Monday.
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, considered a moderate member of the Council of Islamic Courts, went to a Kenyan police station along the Somali border Sunday and was flown to Nairobi, according to a police report seen by The Associated Press. A U.S. diplomat said last week that Ahmed could play a role in reconciling Somali factions.
If Ahmed agrees to hold talks with Somalia’s government, it could be a major step toward preventing the widespread insurgency that many Islamic leaders have threatened in Somalia. Ahmed is not believed to be wanted by the authorities, like other members of the Islamic group.
The United States said it was not involved in protecting Ahmed, whose whereabouts in Nairobi were not known. In Somalia, the remnants of the Islamic courts are being hunted by Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces.
U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger has said Ahmed is a moderate Islamic leader who the United States believes should be part of a national reconciliation process in Somalia. Ahmed was the chairman of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts and shared the leadership with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who was chairman of the court’s legislative council.
Aweys is on a U.S. list of people with suspected ties to al-Qaeda, though he has repeatedly denied having ties to international terrorists.
Somali troops, with crucial aid from neighboring Ethiopia, drove the Council of Islamic Courts out of the capital and much of southern Somalia last month. But violence has been breaking out because of traditional clan rivalries and resentment among Somalis over the presence of Ethiopia.
On Monday, witnesses said Ethiopian troops killed three civilians in the capital’s Hurwa district, considered a hotbed of sympathizers for the Islamic movement.
