Somalia
Fugitive Islamic Courts chief condemns UN for 'neglecting' Somalia
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Nov 12, 2007 - 9:04:05 PM

ASMARA, Eritrea Nov 12 (Garowe Online) - The fugitive leader of Somalia's Islamic Courts movement has stated strongly that the guerrilla war against the country's government and its Ethiopian military allies "will not stop."

"We will never falter in our struggle to free our country [Somalia] from the invading colonialist [Ethiopia]," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys

Aweys accused the United Nations of "neglecting" the plight of the Somali people, saying the world body has refused to speak about the daily massacres being committed by the Ethiopian army in Somalia.

"The situation in Somalia is far worse than in [the Sudanese region of] Darfur," said Aweys, who compared the disproportionate attention Darfur receives on the world stage to the silent suffering of the masses in Somalia.

He called on the UN and the European Union to "intervene immediately" in Mogadishu, where violence has raged since February between Somali-Ethiopian government troops and rebels allied to Aweys' Islamist movement.

It is hypocritical for the UN and EU to repeatedly say that they fight for human rights across the globe, and then ignore Somalia, Aweys suggested.

He urged rebels fighting Somalia's government to "continue the liberation war."

Aweys is on the UN and U.S. list of suspects wanted for links to international terror groups, including Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

He fled Somalia after declaring "jihad" on Ethiopia last year and now resides in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. Hundreds of young men died last December fighting Aweys' "jihad," which ultimately led to humiliating defeat for the Islamic Courts militia.

Source: Garowe Online