DPA
Thursday, February 08, 2007
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Former chief of the toppled Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, arrived in Yemen Thursday where he will live as a refugee, a Yemeni government source said. "Yes, I can confirm that Sheikh Sharif arrived in Sana'a today," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa without giving further details.
Sharif's arrival was initially expected last Monday, but Yemeni officials said procedural measures caused the postponement.
Yemen has agreed to grant political asylum and residence permit to the former Somali Islamic leader, according to a senior Yemeni official.
Yemeni officials believe that Sharif, whose movement controlled the Somali capital Mogadishu and most of central and southern parts of the Horn of Africa country for six months last year, could play a key role in reconciliation in the anarchic country torn apart by clan rivalries.
"He is a moderate person and could help avert the resurgence of violence in Somalia," one Yemeni official told dpa last week.
Sharif gave himself up to Kenyan authorities on the border with Somalia last month after his movement lost its grip on Mogadishu to Ethiopian-backed government troops in December.
Since the defeat of the Islamic Courts' forces, Yemen has granted refuge to several Somali Islamic leaders.
Somali Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed agreed last week to hold a reconciliation conference aimed at restoring political stability to his country. If successful, the reconciliation process might draw the once-powerful Islamists into a power-sharing government.
The EU has said it would not release nearly 20 million dollars slated for a peacekeeping mission unless the two sides reconciled.
The Somali government has been struggling to assert its authority over the capital, despite backing by Ethiopian troops who are set to leave as an African Union peacekeeping mission is forged.
Somalia was plunged into lawlessness and warlord rule after dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.
Source: DPA, Feb 08, 2007