Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia

Alliance for the Re–liberation of Somalia
Chairperson	Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (Djibouti wing / ARS–D) Hassan Dahir Aweys (Asmara wing / ARS–A)
Founded	September 2007
Preceded by	Islamic Courts Union
Merged into	Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and Hizbul Islam
Headquarters	Asmara (September 2007 – February 2009) Djibouti City (June 2008 – January 2009)
Religion	Sunni Islam

The Alliance for the Re–liberation of Somalia (ARS) was political party formed in Eritrea during September 2007 as the successor to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) during the Ethiopian military occupation of Somalia. It served as the principal political opposition to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and participated in the 2007 and 2008 years of the insurgency.^[1][2]

During mid-2008 the alliance divided into two wings over the issue of peace negotiations with the TFG while Ethiopian troops were still occupying Somalia, one wing in Djibouti led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was willing to negotiate and the other in Asmara led by Hassan Dahir Aweys demanded Ethiopian troops withdraw first.^[3] In June 2008, the Djibouti wing of the ARS and TFG signed a historic agreement that resulted integration of the ARS into the Somali transitional parliament.^[4][2] By January 2009, Sharif Ahmed, the former head of both the ICU and the ARS, was elected as the President of Somalia.^[2]