May 1 (Reuters) – Somalia’s hardline opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has an important role to play in restoring security to the country after 18 years of ruinous civil war, a government minister said. [ID:nLU142426]

Aweys returned to Somalia last week in his first known trip home in more than two years.

Here are key facts about Aweys:

* Aweys is among 189 individuals or entities the United States “linked to terrorism” shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, freezing their assets. The United Nations has him on a list of people “belonging to or associated with” al Qaeda. Washington has ruled out contact with Aweys, who denies al Qaeda links.

* Aweys, believed to be in his 60s and to have 20 children, wants Islamic sharia law to operate across Somalia. He headed the Eritrea-based Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia after former leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed left and was elected president of the Somali transitional government.

* A colonel in the army of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, Aweys was decorated for bravery in a war against rival Ethiopia in 1977.

* In the 1990s, he led al-Ittihad al-Islami, which at the time was Somalia’s largest militant Islamist group. He was soundly defeated back then in battles against Ethiopia and Somali warlords backed by Addis Ababa.

SOURCES: Reuters, Somalia experts.

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