Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya

Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya or AIAI ( _ar. الاتحاد الإسلامية‎ "Islamic Union") is a defunct Islamist militant group in Somalia with alleged ties to al-Qaeda.

History

In the early 1990s as Somalia fell into disorder following the end of the Siad Barre regime, Osama bin Laden took advantage of the chaos to fund al-Itihaad, later sending foreign militants who trained and fought alongside al-Itihaad members with the goal of creating an Islamist state in the Horn of Africa [cite news|publisher=NY Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/magazine/23kenya-t.html?ex=1356066000&en=c558476ab344449e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink|title=The African Front|date=2007-12-23|accessdate=2007-12-28|author=Hammer, Joshua] . AIAI was also active in setting up sharia courts. Despite its association with al-Qaeda, other analysts caution against overgeneralization, noting that al-Itihaad had elements of a genuine social movement and that the characters of sub-factions throughout the country substantially differed from each other.cite news
url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/12/16/MN115486.DTL
publisher=San Francisco Chronicle
title=U.S. returning to a nightmare called Somalia
author=Simon Reeve
date=Sunday, December 16, 2001
accessdate=2007-09-04]

An article published in the "San Francisco Chronicle", in December 16 2001 quoted unnamed intelligence officials who claimed AIAI was extensively connected to Al Barakaat.The San Francisco Chronicle called al Barakat a Somali-based business conglomerate and money transfer organization. They quoted former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill who called al Barakat as one of the "financiers of terrorism". The 9/11 Commission Report subsequently cleared al Barakat of involvement in financing the 9/11 hijackers, The 9/11 Commission determined that the 9/11 hijackers received their remote funds transfers through US financial institutions, not Islamic financial institutions.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5292750.stm
title=US ends Somali banking blacklist
date=August 28 2006
publisher=BBC
accessdate=2007-02-24]

Funded by wealthy Saudis, al-Itihaad had extensive connections with the Somali expatriate community in Kenya, in particular the Eastleigh district of Nairobi and the predominantly Muslim coastal regions. At its height, the AIAI militia numbered over 1000.cite news
title=Counter-terrorism in Somalia: Losing hearts and minds?
url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/africa/horn_of_africa/095_counter_terrorism_in_somalia.pdf
date=2005-07-11
publisher=International Crisis Group
accessdate=2007-06-26] According to U.S. intelligence officials, al-Itihaad cooperated with the al-Qaeda operatives who carried out the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed 224 people.

On March 7-8 1999, Ethiopia claimed it had made a cross-border incursion into Ballanballe searching for members of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) who had reportedly kidnapped a person and stolen medical supplies, and denied reports of looting. Allegations from that time also claim Ethiopia was the supplier of various Somali warlords, while Eritrea was arming other warlords.cite news
date=March 10 1999
url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14333&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa Ethiopia-Somalia:
title=Ethiopia denies looting Somali border town
publisher=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
accessdate=2007-09-04] [https://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=100645&selected=Country%20Profiles&showCountry=1&countryId=41&showMore=1 Somalia - Emerging third front in the Ethiopia-Eritrea War?] Stratfor]

On 24 September 2001, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya's finances were sanctioned by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush under Executive Order 13224. Its then-head Hassan Dahir Aweys was also sanctioned under EO13224 in November of that year.cite web
url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/sct/sctter/teridx.htm
publisher=Securities Division
author=William Francis Galvin Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
title=Suspected Terrorist List: To Massachusetts Registered Investment Advisers
date=September 24 2001
accessdate=2007-09-04] In June 2004, Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, who had become leader of the organization, was also sanctioned for his connections to bin Laden.cite web
author=Adam Ereli
date=June 3, 2004
url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/33128.htm
publisher=United States Department of State
accessdate=2007-09-04
title=Designation of Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki under Executive Order 13224] Al-Qaeda operatives were reported to have used the al-Itihaad base on the island of Ras Kiyemboni, south of Kismayu near the border with Kenya.cite news
url=http://www.atimes.com/front/CL14Aa02.html
title=Next stop Somalia?
author=Syed Saleem Shahzad
date=December 14 2001
publisher=Asia Times
accessdate=2007-09-04] Other sources indicate that al-Qaeda formed a training camp on Kiyemboni, while al-Itihaad set up its own training camp at Las Quoay near the northeast port of Boosaaso. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, these camps were dismantled and the hundreds of trained militants sailed for the safety of tribal areas in Yemen.

Shortly thereafter it was claimed that al-Itihaad had dissolved as an organization. Sheikh Aweys went on to become one of the leaders of the Courts of the Islamic Court Union (ICU), which seized control of Mogadishu in June 2006 after several months of fighting. [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54167 SOMALIA: Islamic courts set up consultative council] , Integrated Regional Information Networks, 26 June 2006] Hassan Al-Turki went on to lead Hizbul Shabaab, the Youth Movement wing of the ICU before ceding the organisation to Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow".

Members of Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)

The following individuals were known to be members of AIAI:

* Hassan Dahir Aweys
* Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki
* Abu Taha al-Sudan
* Gouled Hassan Dourad

References

External links

* [http://sec-global.com/advisories/SA0109251736.html SECURITY ADVISORY] , Security Intelligence Global, 25 September 2001