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Leader | Sharif Sheikh Ahmed[1] |
Governing body | Islamic Courts Supreme Council |
Founded | 2000 |
Dissolved | 2007–2009 |
Preceded by | Independent Sharia courts |
Succeeded by | Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia |
Headquarters | Mogadishu |
Ideology | Islamism |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Party flag | |
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The Islamic Courts Union (Somali: Midowga Maxkamadaha Islaamiga) was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded their influence to become the de facto government in most of southern and central Somalia,[2] succeeding in creating the first semblance of a state since 1991.[3]
Following the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in early 1991, a new phenomenon emerged – the establishment of Sharia courts to impose law and order on the volatile neighborhoods of Mogadishu.[4] These independent courts found their existence threatened by warlords, necessitating cooperation which resulted in their unification by 2000. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was a broad-based organization comprising various courts with diverse goals, from national political ambitions to local dispute resolution and promoting Islam. Because of Somalia's deep attachment to Islam, the initiative widely gained popularity and acceptance, along with significant financial backing from the Somali business community.[5][6] By originating from the grassroots level, reconstituting the Somali state,[7] asserting their governance under the mantle of religious impartiality and eliminating the widely despised warlords controlling much of the city - the ICU gained the confidence of a populace exhausted by warfare.[8][6][9]
During the summer of 2006, the ICU decisively defeated a warlord alliance funded by the CIA and became the first entity to consolidate control over all of Mogadishu since the collapse of the state.[10] The period that followed is widely heralded as the most stable and productive period Somalia had seen up to that point since the outbreak of the civil war.[11][12][6] Residents of Mogadishu were finally able to move around the city without fear of attack, the international airport and seaport were opened for the first time in over a decade, a massive debris clean up campaign was started and there was a significant reduction of arms on the streets.[13][14]
Six months into their reign, the Islamic Courts Union was toppled during the final days of 2006 by a full scale Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, supported by the United States.[15][16][17][18] Much of the organizational structure of the ICU disintegrated early on in 2007 due to the invasion as the ENDF/US forces brought the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to power.[19][20] Following the collapse of courts rule, much of the high ranking leadership sought refuge in Eritrea. In the insurgency that followed, a youth militia within the military wing of the Islamic Courts, Al-Shabaab, stayed behind and broke away, initially greatly empowering themselves as a popular resistance movement against the occupation. During 2007 and 2008, ICU forces participated in the insurgency against Ethiopian troops occupying Somalia.[21] High-ranking members of the Islamic Courts later founded the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) in late 2007, which would merge with the TFG in late 2008. Former chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, became president of Somalia in 2009, replacing successfully the Transitional Government with the Federal Government of Somalia. In 2012, the country adopted a new constitution that declared Somalia an Islamic state with Sharia as its primary source of law.[22]
The UIC had succeeded in creating a semblance of a state in the war-torn country for the first time in 15 years, thereby earning qualified legitimacy in the eyes of the population
:5
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).:6
was invoked but never defined (see the help page)....other parts of Somalia such as Beledweyne on the Ethiopian border, and Giohar, north of Mogadishu are now falling under the control of a more moderate insurgent group, the Islamic Courts Union. This group receives strong support...