Hizbul Islam boss 'killed' in fighting

MOGADISHU (Reuters/AFP) - A leader of Somalias Muslim group, who is on the US and UN terrorism lists, is seriously injured from fighting between rival groups and may be dead, a family member and a militia opposed to him said on Sunday.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys own insurgent movement, Hizbul Islam, denied the reports of his death as propaganda.
If true, Aweys death would be a major blow to Hizbul Islam fighters and a boost for President Sheikh Sharif Ahmeds Western-backed government, which had tried unsuccessfully to broker peace talks with the 62-year-old cleric.
Aweys, whom western security services say is close to Al-Qaeda, is a father figure to the fighters in Somalia, where he has headed various religious groups since the 1990s.
We understand that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys was brought yesterday to his brothers house, a family member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
We were denied access but confirmed there were doctors in the area ... The mood looks like he is dead. The whole area is surrounded by gunmen and there is no access, he added, of the house close to Mogadishus football stadium.
The government-allied moderate militia Ahla Sunna Waljamaca said its fighters shot Aweys during battles in Wabho town on Friday, and that he died of wounds later.
There were also rumours among militia fighters that another leader, Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, was among the 123 combatants who died in the fighting around Wabho.
In Mogadishu, where activists of Al-Shabaab have been battling the governments security forces, three people died on Sunday when a remote control mine meant for a police car struck another vehicle.
Gunmen in the capital also shot and killed Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe, a director of privately-owned radio station Shabelle, and injured a colleague. They shot the director in the head and he died on the spot, a witness said.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, in an interview published on Sunday in Italys Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper, said Al-Qaeda was targeting Somalia as a strategic base for operations, as it did in Afghanistan.
Al-Qaeda sees Somalia as a strategic zone like Afghanistan to establish its network. We have become a priority.... It is a real risk, said Sharif Ahmed, who will travel to Italy Tuesday (tomorrow) for an international conference on his country, a former Italian colony.
Today there are Al-Qaeda cells in the country. So this isnt Somalias problem but the worlds, he said.
The president said his government needed another six to eight months to build a security force capable of beating groups Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. We want dialogue but they oppose it, he added, saying Eritrea was backing Hizbul Islam, while Al-Shabaab was linked to Al-Qaeda.