SUMMARY
USC – PM (United Somali Congress – Peace Movement) was a mainly Xawaadle (Hawadle) clan based group. It is not entirely clear when the group was formed, but it was formed as a reaction to the USC/SNA (United Somali Congress/ Somali National Alliance) occupation of the Xawaadle dominated city of Beled Weyne (Belet Huen) in Hiraan region in central Somalia in 1994. The group, just as the Xawaadle clan, was aligned with USC/SSA (United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Army), a group led by Ali Mahdi who at the time was president of Somalia. USC/SNA and USC/SSA were in the early and mid-1990s the two strongest competitors for control of Somalia, where USC/SSA was internationally recognised while USC/SNA controlled parts of Mogadishu and large parts of southern Somalia. In 1995 the group was able to oust the USC/SNA forces from Beled Weyne and regain control of the city.
The leader of USC – PM was Ahmed Weheliye. Another leader who has been named is Colonel Omar Hashi Aden, who later went on to become a minister in TFG (Transitional Federal Government), only to leave following the Ethiopian invasion, joining ARS (Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia) in 2007. When ARS was divided between those in favour of negotiations and those in favour of continued armed struggle he founded the pro-negotiation part which was later led by Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad, who later became president of Somalia. In the Sh. Sharif Sh. Ahmad government he was Security Minister until his death in June 2009 when he was amongst those targeted by a suicide bomb attack in Beled Weyne.
The group has been referred to as being supported by Ethiopia, something that is plausible not the least due to the general trend in the mid- to late-1990s of Ethiopia supporting the parties on the side of USC/SSA while Eritrea largely supported groups on the side of USC/SNA. Such support would also have been easily dealt with due to the geographic proximity of Beled Weyne to the Ethiopian border.
USC - PM has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
