Cooperation

Staff Report, *Somali president lauds pact with Sufi group* - Agence France-Presse - Paris, France
Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Mogadishu: Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Tuesday lauded an agreement with a faction of the moderate Ahlu Sunna Sufi sect to jointly fight extremist elements in the country.

But some Ahlu Sunna officials rejected the deal signed Monday in Addis Ababa saying it was not in their interest and was forced on them by foreigners.

"The agreement was historic and a victory towards peace and development," Sharif told reporters in Mogadishu.

"I hope cooperation between the government and Ahlu Sunna group will also bring achievements on the war against the rebel terrorists."

Sharif's government has faced relentless attacks from the radical Al Qaeda-linked Shebab militia and the Hezb al-Islam, also a hardline Islamist movement. The Sufi group and the government were already de facto allies against the two Islamist groups without any formal alliance.

However, Monday's pact has caused division within Ahlu Sunna.

"We are not against the talks with the Somali government, but what we boycotted is the deal that was signed in Ethiopia yesterday," said Sheik Bashir Abdi Olad, Ahlu Sunna's foreign affairs official. "It does not serve the interest of the country and people and the process towards that agreement was totally wrong.

"The deal is not inclusive and is pushed by foreign elements and we cannot accept such a nonsensical deal," Olad said, adding that some of the group's officials including the spokesman and himself were threatened to accept the deal as it stood or face jail in Ethiopia.

Sheik Abdulahi Moalim Abdi, another Ahlu Sunna top official said: "No one can force us to take something that does not serve our main objectives."

Ahlu Sunna is often accused of being Ethiopia's proxy in Somalia following Addis Ababa's troop withdrawal in January 2009, following a ill-fated two-year occupation.

The group, whose full name translates loosely as 'The Companions of the Prophet', was founded in 1991 to protect the local Sufi brand of Islam from Gulf-backed sects and recently took up arms, emerging as one of the country's key players.

Picture: Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed