ANALYSIS-Somali Islamists weakened but not defeated
Analysis from Al-Reuters:
NAIROBI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - If words are matched by deeds, expect Somalia's Islamists to rise from the ashes of a defeat by Ethiopian troops who forced them from strongholds into hiding.
The movement seemed unstoppable six months ago when it seized Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords, opened long-abandoned facilities like an international airport, created its own police force and dispensed justice through sharia law.
But faced with an onslaught by Ethiopian tanks, troops and jets defending the interim government, the Islamists' control over much of south Somalia crumbled in just two weeks.
Though looking at their weakest yet, the Islamists -- who formed the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) and numbered between 3,000-4,000 fighters at their height -- are not a spent force and may resurface rebranded and reformed, analysts say.
Addis Ababa need only look at history to realise that.
Between 1992 and 1998, traditionally Christian Ethiopia invaded Muslim Somalia to attack members of al-Itithaad al-Islaami, largely dismantling the militant group Washington says is linked to foreign terrorists.
But a decade later, the leader of the group's military wing, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, re-emerged as the chairman of the "shuura" or consultative council of the SICC.
"There's no reason to believe Aweys will disappear forever," said a foreign-based Somali analyst, who declined to be named because he often travels to his homeland. "I'm confident this is not the last time we see the Islamic Courts."
Indeed...so are the islamists
"If the world thinks we are dead, they should know we are alive. We will rise from the ashes," spokesman Abdirahim Ali Mudey told Reuters from a hideout.
Another voice from a cave seems confident too, as Al Qaeda urges Somali Islamists to attack Ethiopians.
Labels: al-Qaeda, al-Zawahiri, Ethiopia, Islamists, Main Stream Media, Somalia
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