Hassan Dahir Aweys

Hassan Dahir Aweis حسن طاهر أويس
Born	1945 (age 71–72) Dhusa Mareb, Somalia
Nationality	Somali
Occupation	former colonel
Title	former hizbul islam leader

Hassan Dahir Aweys (Somali: Xasan Daahir Aweys, Arabic: حسن طاهر أويس‎‎) (born 1945)) 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 (ICU) 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,. The BBC stated "It is still not clear which man is more powerful. ". 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.

During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army (SNA) during the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopia during which he was decorated for bravery.

He is a member of the Ayr (clan), which is part of the Habar Gidir group, which is a Hawiye sub-clan.

In the 1990s, Aweys was member of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI), an Islamist group that was responsible for terrorist attacks on hotels and markets in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Jijiga, and Harar, and was originally funded by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden which was linked to the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

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