SOMALIA - REPORTS RUMOR HASSAN DAHIR AWEYS DEAD OR

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001122 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2019 TAGS: PINR PGOV SOCI PTER PHUM SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - REPORTS RUMOR HASSAN DAHIR AWEYS DEAD OR WOUNDED Classified By: Somalia Counselor Bob Patterson. Reasons: 1.4 b,d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Conflicting reports as of 2:00 P.M. (local) June 7 had Islamist rebel leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys either wounded or dead of wounds allegedly sustained in fighting in the Galgaduud region town of Wabho on June 4. Embassy contacts in the TFG, Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama'a, the Somali media, and elsewhere have been unable to date to definitely confirm the rumors. If true, Aweys's death would mark a serious setback for those opposed to the reconciliation efforts led by TFG President Sharif. In a possibly related development, the Director of ONE of the radio stations which broke the Aweys story --Radio Shabelle's Muhtar Hirabe-- was apparently assassinated in Mogadishu's Bakara Market on the morning of June 7, about thirty minutes after talking by phone with Somalia Unit. End summary. ¶2. (C) Reuters and other wire services have been reporting the death or serious injury June 7 of Islamist rebel leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys in fighting June 4 in the town of Wabho, Galgaduud region. As of 2:00 P.M. (local),June 7, the TFG Prime Minister, the TFG Speaker, Chief of Intelligence, and Somalia's Ambassador to Nairobi (currently in Mogadishu) have been unable to definitively confirm Aweys injury or death. In the most recent telephone conversation, Somalia Ambassador Mohammed Ali Nur "Americo" alleged that the TFG was virtually certain that Aweys had been critically wounded, but was still not ready to confirm it publicly. On the other hand, a BBC Somalia Service reporter who is a relative of Aweys told Somalia Unit afternoon, June 7, that Aweys was unharmed, and offered to arrange a telephone call with Aweys to prove his point. (Note: Even if Aweys were wounded, his confederates wouldhave every reason to want to conceal that fact, in order not to energize the TFG. That tactic, if now being employed, would have precedent in Somalia. Just ONE day before he died of wounds in August 1996, warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed, gave a telephone press conference in which he alleged that he was healthy.) ¶3. (C) Other contacts have alleged that Aweys was indeed wounded or dead. The Radio Simba, Mogadishu, Director told Somalia Unit that Aweys was wounded in Wabho and taken to El Bur. Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama'a contacts in central Somalia claimed credit for killing Aweys in a June 7 telephone conversation with Somalia Unit. Radio Shabelle Director Muhtar Hirabe told us just thirty minutes before he himself was assassinated in Bakara Market that Aweys was wounded or dead. On the morning of Hirabe's death, his station had run the story that Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama'a was claiming that Aweys had been wounded in fighting in Wabho. Shabelle Radio's Programming Chief, Ahmed Omar Hashi "Tajir," who was with Hirabe, was reportedly also injured in the attack. Hirabe is the fifth journalist murdered this year in Somalia. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) If true, Aweys's death would deal a serious blow to the morale of insurgents. opposing the TFG. It was Aweys's late-April arrival in Somalia from Sudan that seemed to catalyze the most recent rounds of fighting in Mogadishu. That fighting began May 7 after weeks of relative calm that had seen the return of thousands of IDPs to the capital. RANNEBERGER