Somalian Militia Names Radical as New Leader

A fundamentalist Muslim whom the U.S. suspects of collaborating with Al Qaeda terrorists was named Saturday as the new leader of an Islamist militia that has seized control of the capital.

The militia, which changed its name Saturday from the Islamic Courts Union to the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, said in a statement that it had appointed Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys as its new leader. The Bush administration has alleged that Aweys was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.

The Islamic militia seized control of the capital, Mogadishu, and much of southern Somalia from an alliance of warlords this month. Aweys’ appointment makes it likely that the increasingly powerful militia will seek to enforce an extremist version of Islam not practiced by most Somalis.

The appointment is also likely to fuel U.S. fears that Somalia will become a haven for Bin Laden’s terrorist network, as Afghanistan was in the 1990s.

Aweys replaces Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who is considered a moderate in comparison. Since the militia drove warlords out of Mogadishu and much of the south this month, Ahmed has softened rhetoric calling for strict Islamic, or Sharia, law.

Ahmed also agreed last week to stop military action and recognize the largely powerless interim government, which is based in Baidoa, 140 miles northwest of Mogadishu. Aweys has condemned that government and any attempts to install a Western-style democracy.