Hassan Dahir Aweys

Who is Hassan Dahir Aweys?

Hassan Dahir Aweys is a Somali political figure who was added to the U.S. government's list of terrorists in 2001. Aweys was the head of the 90-member shura council of the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia and 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. An eight-member executive committee was headed by the more moderate Sharif Ahmed, although the BBC stated that he was the "real power" of the organization. Aweys resigned from the ICU on 28 December 2006, at the end of ICU rule in Mogadishu.

He hails from the Habargidir/Ayr subclan within the Hawiye clan.