Which Way for Mr. Aweys and al-Shabaab?

There were conflicting reports last week on the status of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the firebrand cleric seen by many Somalis as the spiritual leader of al-Shabaab, but who recently has been mired in a power struggle within the group over the question of whether al-Shabaab should be a nationalist insurgency for Somali Islamists or welcome foreign fighters as part of al-Qa’ida’s global jihad.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Aweys had been arrested in central Somalia by a regional government friendly to the Somali Federal Government.

On Friday, however, the BBC reported that elders from Aweys’ Habr Gidr clan said he was travelling with permission of the administration in Adado, and that he had not surrendered to local authorities. (The Habr Gidr was also Mohammed Farah Aideed's clan, which is ironic given that Aideed offered to conduct joint operations against Somali Islamists before UN forces started targeting him in June 1993).

But on Saturday Reuters reported that Aweys had been flown to Mogadishu “to hold talks with the federal government about his fate,” and published the photo below. Aweys is believed to have participated in the Battle of the Black Sea fighting against U.S. forces in 1993, and was linked to terrorism by the United States shortly after 9/11. Although he is on a UN Security Council terrorism sanctions list, it is unclear how much influence Aweys currently has within al-Shabaab, and therefore whether his arrest or reconciliation will have much of an effect on al-Shabaab's capabilities.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, spiritual leader of al-Shabaab, in custody of the Somali government and en route to Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, two of al-Shabaab’s top leaders were apparently killed in the same infighting that may have driven Aweys into the arms of the Somali government, including Ibrahim al Afghani, whom the BBC described as al-Shabaab’s second-in-command, and for whom the Rewards for Justice program offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his apprehension earlier this month. Interestingly, according to Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal, al Afghani, Aweys, and other al-Shabaab leaders had criticized its top leader Ahmed Abdi Godane for being too heavy-handed in his treatment of American jihadist Omar Hammami, and Roggio reports that Hammami is now thought to be dead. (See an earlier post on Hammami here). In the meantime, al-Shabaab noted on its official Twitter account that it is conducting an internal purge.

As they say, interesting . . .