The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted an off-the-record briefing and discussion for US government officials and academic experts working on Somalia with Sheikh Hersi Mohamud Hilowle “Laba-Garre,” chairman of Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a (ASWJ), a Somali military and political group with a strong following among the country’s Sufis.
Hersi discussed ASWJ’s political and security agenda, its current alliance with the Transnational Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu, the campaign against the militants of al Shabaab, and piracy off the coastline of the central regions of Somalia.