Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (English: Hassan Dahir Aweys (Somali: Xasan Daahir Aweys, (Arabic: حسن طاهر أويس; born 1935) is a Somali Islamist political figure.^[2] During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army and served in the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopia.^[3][4][5]

Aweys later came to be a leading figure in Somalia's rising Islamic movements at the start of the Civil War, beginning with Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya from 1991. After the effective dissolution of Al-Itihaad in 1997, he became the head of an Islamic Court in north Mogadishu and eventually rose to a high-ranking position within the Islamic Courts Union until the Ethiopian invasion of 2006. After the invasion he joined the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia and became head of the Asmara wing of the ARS. During the insurgency, his wing of the alliance merged with several groups to form Hizbul Islam.

In 2010, Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab merged, but disputes between Aweys and the Al-Shabaab leadership would result in several attempts on his life and his eventual defection to Federal Government of Somalia in 2013.

Aweys was born in the city of Dhusamareb, Galguduud region in central Somalia. He is part of the Ayr wing of the Habr Gidir, a major sub-clan of the Hawiye. In 1963 he moved to Mogadishu and went to secondary school. He joined the Somali National Army (SNA) after and went to 'General Daud military academy' in 1972, from which he graduated. Aweys rose to the rank of Colonel and was decorated with a silver medal for bravery during the 1977–1978 Ogaden War against Ethiopia.^[6][7]

Following the collapse of the Somali government, Aweys joined al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) in 1991. He eventually became vice chairman and military commander of the organization.^[6] During fighting between AIAI and an Ethiopian backed Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) force led by Abdullahi Yusuf, Aweys captured and arrested Yusuf at an early stage of the clashes, though AIAI was eventually routed.^[8] From 1991 to 1998, AIAI's Gedo Region branch led by former Somali High Court Judge Mohamed Haji Yusuf maintained formidable forces.^{[citation needed]} Gedo district seats of Lugh, Balad Hawo and Burdubo were all run by AIA forces.^{[citation needed]} Lugh was entirely governed by AIAI.^{[citation needed]} At the time, there were other regional military authority Somali National Front (SNF) running parts of Gedo.^{[citation needed]} Sheikh Aweys settled in Lower Shabelle when some disputes came of light in Lugh's Al-Itahad leadership.^{[citation needed]}

On 18 September 1996, the Ethiopian army invaded Lugh and forced out most of the AIAI forces.^{[citation needed]} The following two years, the war front changed into what was later to become the Mountains War of Gedo.^{[citation needed]} And the war this time was between SNF and AIAI.^{[citation needed]} The Ethiopian regime just armed SNF militias.^{[citation needed]} Ethiopians gave SNF an estimated 800 to 1000 small arms and around a dozen heavy weapons.^{[citation needed]} The Gedo war ended when both sides agreed on a truce, and general peace with a peace conference held in El Ade in December 1998 was concluded.^{[citation needed]}

On 7 November 2001, Sheikh Aweys was named a 'supporter of terrorism' in a supplement of Executive Order 13224 of United States President George W. Bush.^{[9] [citation needed]} According to NBC News, Sheikh Aweys is also on the terrorist list of the United States Department of State^[10] as somebody who is known as an al-Qaeda operative or who is connected with al-Qaeda. Sheikh Aweys has always denied the US terrorism allegations. He told AFP news agency;^[8]

It is not proper to put somebody on a list of terrorists who has not killed or harmed anybody. I am not a terrorist. But if strictly following my religion and love for Islam makes me a terrorist, then I will accept the designation.

After the defeat of AIAI Aweys played a key role in setting up a system of courts according to the shari'a by local businessmen desperate for order. According to the BBC he was the ICU's spiritual leader. The Courts brought relative stability to areas under its control, after years of turmoil. The Courts' notion of order was strict, including stonings for serious crimes such as rape and murder. At first it only controlled the area of north Mogadishu, but it gained support from many Somali's following the random violence committed by the warlords who controlled southern Mogadishu. Beginning 2004, eleven of these courts folded into an umbrella organization, the Islamic Courts Union, which fielded a formidable militia. A UN report in early 2006 stated that Aweys was receiving military support from Eritrea, as part of the ongoing conflict between it and Ethiopia, though Eritrea denies the claim.^[8] According to independent military experts, Aweys training and strategy had given the ICU forces the edge they required to rout the warlords.^[11] Following the ICU's victory in Mogadishu in June 2006, Aweys rose to be the head of the shura committee.^[12][13][14]

On 19 December 2006, he received medical treatment in Egypt just before the beginning of the war against the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian troops.^[15] On 21 December 2006, as the fighting intensified with Ethiopia, he took a flight to an undisclosed location with Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade, and rather than news of medical treatment, it was said he was on the hajj.^[16] According to Voice of America, Aweys left Mogadishu on 27 December 2006, along with several hundred members of Al-Shabaab's inner circle.^[17]

Aweys was the head of the 90-member shura council of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) of Somalia^[13] and according to the BBC was viewed as one of the more radical leaders of the Union, which promoted shari'a and directed the militias that took control of the Somali capital of Mogadishu in June 2006. The BBC also mention that an eight-member executive committee was headed by the more moderate Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.^[18] The BBC stated "It is still not clear which man is more powerful."^[8] Aweys resigned from the ICU on 28 December 2006, at the end of ICU rule in Mogadishu.

In June 2013, Aweys defected to the government and was taken into custody by Somali security forces,^[32][4] denoting the victory of the hardliners in al-Shabaab.^[33] However, there was speculation in The Economist Newspaper the nature of his arrest, initially being promised talks with government officials and then being roughed up by soldiers when arrested instead, created concern that it could have caused the Hawiye clan of the president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Aweys to split.^[34]