Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter NEW YORK–What a difference three years makes.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was the head of the Islamic Courts Union in October 2006 when the Star interviewed him inside a heavily guarded Mogadishu villa.

The soft-spoken teacher-turned-politician had done what no other leader could – brought order to the anarchic city. A former Toronto grocer, Abdullahi Afrah, was among his closest advisers.

But two months later, fears the ICU would become the “new Taliban” pushed Ethiopian tanks over the border as the U.S. propped up a new government. Months of warfare ensued, thousands were displaced and hundreds killed, including Canadian Afrah.

Now, Ahmed is back – as president. He’s a unique leader for Somalia because he isn’t a warlord with a bloody past or beholden to a clan – factors that have turned Somalis against each other for 18 years. It is one reason Ahmed had that brief 2006 success, and why all hopes are pinned on him today.

But challenges may be bigger now than they were three years ago. Ethiopia’s invasion attempted to quash a militant offshoot of the ICU known as al Shabaab (the Youth). But as a longtime rival, Ethiopia’s presence only unified Somalis, attracted foreign fighters and bolstered al Shabaab’s ranks.

Ahmed met the Star again yesterday in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria as a U.S. Secret Service agent stood outside his door and New York police cordoned off blocks around the Park Ave. hotel.

He wore a dark blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a pin of Somalia’s flag secured to his lapel. On the table sat glass bottles of Evian beside a tropical fruit tray and flower arrangement of orchids, proteas and roses.

Ahmed came here last week to address the United Nations Assembly with other world leaders. Last month, he met privately with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Nairobi, where she told reporters his government was “the best hope we’ve had in quite some time.”

Same man. Same vision. Different times. Ahmed laughed when asked if he had changed.

“This is an obvious question,” he said. “The challenges people were facing before were kidnappings, rape, violence, all kinds of problems. No one at that time believed change could come, but I had a lot of hope. I find myself in the same spot now where we have a lot of serious challenges and people saying this is not going to work. But I’m full of hope.”

Canadian Afyare Abdi Elmi, who received his PhD from the University of Alberta and now teaches in Qatar University’s international affairs department, says there is indeed a window of opportunity for substantive change to take place in Somalia.

“I think (Ahmed) is charismatic and pragmatic,” and neither he nor Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has “political baggage,” Elmi said in a phone interview.

“Unlike their rivals, they are not extremists or clanists or warlords – that is why they appeal to many.”

Ethiopian forces withdrew in January and Ahmed was appointed president a month later with the blessing of the international community. But despite this diplomatic nod, he still struggles for control and most believe that without the support of 5,000 African Union troops in Mogadishu his government would collapse.

Ahmed conceded yesterday the mandate of the AU troops might expand from that of peacekeepers – only able to react if attacked – to a more offensive role.

“That is something we are working on,” he said.

Al Shabaab pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda in a widely circulated online statement last week and orchestrated twin suicide bombings on an African Union compound this month, killing 21. The attacks, in which stolen UN vehicles were used, showed a new level of planning and sophistication.

Ahmed said he believes al Shabaab, which has been designated a terrorist group in most countries, including Canada, remains unpopular inside Somalia. Without Ethiopia as a common foe, most Somalis do not adhere to the strict interpretation of Islam the group preaches, or support its global fight against the West.

But young Somalis, impoverished and having grown up on war, might not need to support the group ideologically in order to join its ranks if al Shabaab becomes a better paying or more secure option.

And the group appears to be successfully appealing to disenfranchised youths outside Somalia as well. Up to 20 Somalia-born young Americans have disappeared from the Minneapolis area, one of whom authorities say died a suicide bomber.

The FBI is also reportedly using DNA samples to determine if Seattle teenager Mohamed Mohamud was responsible for detonating explosives in the AU attack.

There are reports, but no confirmed cases, of Canadian youths travelling to Somalia after being lured through jihadi Internet sites.

Links between Canada and Somalia have always been strong, since Toronto is home to one of the world’s largest Somali diasporas. Thousands of Somalis sought refuge in Canada following their government’s collapse in 1991 and Somalia’s prime minister and several high-ranking ministers in Ahmed’s government are well-educated Canadian citizens.

Yesterday, Ahmed encouraged more Canadians to return to their birthplace or support those who have, and he called on Ottawa to provide humanitarian assistance for thousands of displaced Somalis facing starvation and drought.

He also expressed regret and sadness about the kidnapping of Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout, who along with Australian photographer Nigel Brennan, has been held hostage near Mogadishu for 13 months.

“There was an opportunity at one point to win her freedom where we got very close in negotiations,” he said. However, he was unable to offer a current assessment, saying only “we are still involved in her case.”

As the interview ended, Ahmed stood and shook hands with his female visitor, something he didn’t do in Mogadishu three years ago.

In 2006, Ahmed told the Star he defied expectations by pacifying Mogadishu. “People were not anticipating there would be light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

After 20 years of dictatorship and almost 20 more now of war, being optimistic about Somalia’s future is difficult. But Ahmed said he is just that.

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Source: Toronto Star

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