After waging war for four months against warlords that destroyed Somalia in the last 15 years, the “Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) took control of most parts of Mogadishu. The UIC is an umbrella of 12 clan-based courts lead by Shiekh Shariif Ahmed who is also the founder of the SiiSii Islamic court. These courts were initially set up to fight the insecurity and lawlessness in Mogadishu where there has been no functioning government since 1991 after Siad Barre government collapsed.

The courts are divided among different clans and sub-clans in Mogadishu and include original seven courts and newly created, but politically motivated courts as UIC maneuvers complex Somali Clan system. These are:

Although the courts share the common “Islamic” banner, they are not interchangeable and their control is limited to their respective clan or subclan base. Both their services and rulings are exclusive to the clan or subclan that controls each court making them loose fragile alliance.

Initially, when the courts united in their opposition to fight the warlords in Mogadishu, the primary objective was to eliminate warlords and their criminal enterprises. However, after the UIC swiftly and unexpectedly defeated the warlords, their more extreme elements realized an opportunity to pursue broader ambitions to control the whole country and to pursue imposition of Sharia law. Therefore, on June 24, the UIC elected new leadership, changed its name from the Union of Islamic Courts to “Council of Islamic Courts” and installed hardline former Military Colonel as the leader of the new Council. Now the Council of Islamic Courts is at the crossroads in terms of internal discourse, the future of its relationship of with the weak, but legal Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, and overall direction and shape of its future.

Internal Divisions: The Council of Islamic Courts is now effectively divided into two branches (1) Shuraa (the Council) lead by Hassan Dahir Awes who is on the UN terrorist list and extremist; and the Executive Council lead by Sheikh Shariif Ahmed, a more moderate cleric who was the face of the struggle to oust the warlords. Awes is ambitious to rule Somalia under the banner of “Sharia law” while Ahmed is more interested on his initial goal to pacify the city of Mogadishu.

External Challenges: Although the Courts currently control majority of Mogadishu, there is legally recognized Transitional Federal Government (TFG) based in Baidoa. The courts and the TFG had preliminary meeting in Khartoum, Sudan in June to begin ways to negotiate power sharing arrangement. It was agreed that, first, the two mutually “recognize” each other and meet again on July 15, 2006 in Sudan. The July meeting has also been postponed date unknown although the UIC suggested August 31.

If the courts fail to work out a deal with the TFG, they could face additional isolation and challenges from the TFG and the rest of the world. Thus, the results of internal debate within the different wings (extremist vs. moderate) and complex clans that make up the Courts will determine their next moves. This fragile situation will require careful and preventive measures to minimize miscalculations by all sides concerned, especially between the TFG and the Courts.