SOMALIA: A man deemed an international terrorist says Islamic Courts are no threat, writes Rob Crilly in Mogadishu
The speed of the Islamic Courts' advance across Somalia surprised everybody: the weakened transitional government which has seen its influence shrivel to nothing, international observers who fear the rise of an African Taliban, and, not least, the leaders of the Islamic Courts themselves.
Now, with peace talks due to resume in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, the movement's hardline leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, says he is ready to work with the country's fragile government.
In a rare interview, the man listed as an international terrorist by the US and the UN, says the courts are no threat to the government as long as the president asks its Ethiopian protectors to leave.
"When foreign troops and foreign powers invade Somalia it makes war imminent. But before that war begins we want to solve the problems through dialogue," he says in the whitewashed Mogadishu villa of a supporter.
It is an unusual statement of reconciliation from an Islamic leader who sees nothing wrong in waging holy war against the west. It is also a sign that peace talks that have stalled since June may see progress when they begin again today, with power-sharing at the top of the agenda.
After almost 16 years of civil war, peace cannot come soon enough for the residents of Mogadishu. Today the city resembles a post-apocalyptic nightmare. It is little more than a shantytown spread among the ruins of Italianate villas, tumble-down cathedrals and bullet-riddled hotels that once commanded the seafront.
Rival warlords carved this country into a series of personal fiefdoms after the collapse of Siad Barre's brutal regime in 1991.
That changed in June when militias allied to a network of sharia courts defeated a US-backed alliance of warlords in Mogadishu. Since then the Islamic courts have strengthened their hold on Mogadishu and fanned out around the country.
Their triumph sent shockwaves through regional capitals which fear an Islamic fundamentalist government on their doorsteps and through Western governments who believe Somalia could become a haven for al-Qaeda, in the same way as Taliban-governed Afghanistan.
Bin Laden has himself taken an interest in Somalia. In an audio recording broadcast last month, he urged the mujahideen in Somalia to fight anyone who might weaken their grip on power. And the US believes that members of an al-Qaeda cell behind the 1998 bombing of its Nairobi embassy remain in the country.
Such allegations are dismissed angrily by Sheikh Aweys. "America knows that al-Qaeda is not here in Somalia. Their fear is simply that they do not like to have an Islamic government here." It is an allegation that Sheikh Aweys - nicknamed the "old fox" for his henna-stained beard and wily political skills - is likely to face again and again.
He led al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, an Islamist militia accused of having links to al-Qaeda, during the 1990s. And today he would rather ignore questions about his links to bin Laden than condemn suicide bombers who take jihad to America.
"It is clear that America is at war with Muslims. It is something that they don't even hide. That means that Muslims can fight back. With the help of God they will succeed, Inshallah."
Al-Itihaad was eventually defeated towards the end of the 1990s. Sheikh Aweys then became a leading player in the sharia courts which emerged gradually in Mogadishu. They were designed to restore law and order to a city kept in a permanent state of chaos by its warlord masters.
The courts have imposed hardline sharia law in the areas under their control, drawing comparisons with the Taliban in Afghanistan who banned music and ordered men to grow beards.
As far as Sheikh Aweys is concerned, non-Muslims need not pray five times a day or follow other aspects of Koranic teaching. But he soon runs into a contradiction.
"If I go somewhere I have to abide by that country's laws. If a woman doesn't want to wear the hijab then she doesn't have to, but she can't walk the streets," he says smiling.
And although, he says Afghanistan is not the model for Somalia, it is not long before he starts drawing comparisons.
"We believe the Taliban was not treated fairly. It wasn't given time to sell itself and show its real face. So what happened in Afghanistan is the same thing that we are having here.
"Somalia has not been solved for 16 years. We have brought peace in two months. We should be supported and our achievements should be respected."
Analysts credit Sheikh Aweys with providing the tactical nous for the courts' speedy victory. They believe he marshalled his forces from his base in central Somalia via his young Afghan-trained lieutenant, Aden Hashi Ayro.
"There is no doubt that Aweys is the danger man," said a Western diplomatic source in Nairobi. "He is the guy with the strategy and the ability to turn the courts into something nasty."
For now, the courts have been warmly welcomed by residents tired of war. Although they have imposed brutal punishments - sentencing rapists to death by stoning and ordering drug users to be lashed - residents say they can now walk freely around the city for the first time in years.
The city's airport has reopened and ships have begun arriving at the port. Foreign visitors even get a stamp in their passport and the courts plan to begin licensing cars, measures that the transitional government has not been able to introduce.
But heavy rains this week have exposed the scale of the task. One brick building has collapsed and dozens of shacks have been washed away leaving hundreds homeless.
A grenade attack on a crowded market also left nine people seriously injured yesterday, a reminder that this city remains awash with weapons.
That is not enough to make Abdisalam Guled (27) reconsider his plans to return from London.
Over a cup of sticky, black coffee, he explains that the scattered Somali diaspora has a crucial role to play in ensuring that the voices of moderation prevail. "Some people will wait and see, but others think that if we wait then things will go to the wrong place. They need people to maintain the gains that have been made, politically and economically.
"If people like us don't do something, then no one will."