SUMMARY
AIAI (Al-Ittihad Al-Islami; Islamic Unity) was an Islamist group with two distinct identities, one as an armed organisation and one as a humanitarian one. The group, which was founded in 1980, was Neo-Salafist and based in Puntland, in north-eastern Somalia. Religiously inspired by Saudi Wahabism, AIAI strived to impose a pan-Somali Salafist emirate. One of the figures that served as an inspiration was the Saudi dissident Sheikh Mohamed Zain al-‘Abidin Saruur, who had been expelled from the Saudi kingdom due to his radical teachings.
In the early days the organisation focused more on Da’wa (i.e. preaching or spreading the message) than on politics. During the latter part of the 1980s this changed, however, with AIAI, starting to promote an alternative to both Somali president Sida Barre’s regime and democracy, calling for a rule where politics and Islam was inseparable, based on the Koran and Sunna. This more political orientation was followed by a move towards militancy. In the conflict that finally led to Siad Barre being ousted in January 1991, a group of mostly Darod members of AIAI took part in the Somali national army, thus on the side of Barre as they feared what the mostly Hawiye-based rebel group USC (United Somali Congress), who had seized power after Barre’s ousting, would have in store for members of the Darod clan in the future. The 300 men strong AIAI section of the army was soon placed to defend Araare, a bridge north of Kismayo on the Mogadishu road. Faced by Aideed’s forces of the USC the AIAI group was facing an immediate defeat. However, Aideed sent word that battle could be avoided if only the group laid down their arms. The colonel that delivered this message was Hassan Dahir Aweys who, when AIAI refused to disarm even though they were faced with certain defeat, abandoned the USC and took up arms with AIAI. Apart from gaining Aweys into the organisation the defeat at Araare also meant that the bulk of the organisation by not was convinced that the only way to reach their goals was through the use of military force.
Following the defeat at Araare, AIAI dispersed for some time, but was soon reunited, together with other AIAI supporters, in Bossasoo, in north-eastern Somalia. Here they were for a while under the protection of the SSDF (Somali Salvation Democratic Front), another rebel group fighting the new USC government. The group later had a base in Laas Qoray in Somaliland and was active, together with the Ethiopian branch of AIAI (Al-Ittihad Al-Islaami ee Soomaaliya; Islamic Union of Western Somalia), in the Ethiopian region of Ogaden. In Ethiopia, AIAI took part in the conflict against the government. This resulted in a situation where, in 1996, the Ethiopian government attacked AIAI bases inside Somalia, fearing what the growing presence of AIAI in the Gedo region in Somalia might lead to. In heavy fighting the groups main base at Luuq was destroyed. Further fighting was announced in Dolow, Somalia, in September, and again in December. After yet another bout of fighting in 1999, AIAI was a spent force militarily. Apart from the activities in Somalia and Ethiopia, AIAI has also been recruiting members and preaching in Kenya and Djibouti.
In the conflict in Ethiopia AIAI at times cooperated with and supported fellow rebel group ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front), fighting for independence for the Ogaden region since the mid-1990s. Another allied group was the terrorist network al-Qaida. The contact was established in the early 1990s when Aweys, acting as the military leader for AIAI, got a connection with Muhammad Atef (also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri) at al-Qaida’s base in Khartoum. In 1993 AIAI received military training from al-Qaida.
Apart from Aweys, who became the commander of the armed section of AIAI, the group has had several clerics in its leadership, most notably Sheikh Ali Warsame, Sheikh Dahir, and Sheikh Abdulqadir Ga’amey. The leadership could however not prevent the group from a series of setbacks in the mid-1990s. In an attempt to re-launch the group the leadership tried to change the name from AIAI to Jama’at al-I’tisaam Bil-Kitaab Wa Sunna (Group for Adherence to the Book and the Sunna, “the book” meaning the Koran). The name change did not render any palpable results and there are few, if any, references to al-I’tisaam. AIAI, however, is still remembered, not the least since Hassan Dahir Aweys has played a significant role in the Somali conflicts since then, in the two Islamist organisations ARS/UIC (Alliance of Re-Liberation of Somalia/Union of Islamic Courts) and Hizbul Islam.
Since the late 1990s there have been differing accounts as to the continued existence of AIAI in Somalia. While some reports claim that they are still a viable, though clandestine, force most experts argue that AIAI is no longer a force to count with. The latter view is also supported by Aweys himself
AIAI has been involved in the intrastate and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
