Somali religious leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys continues to preach against the use of foreign peacekeepers. Aweys, a former colonel in the Somali army, is now an Islamic conservative suspected of having al Qaeda connections. Islamic conservative groups have brought law and order to some parts of Somalia, but they also have ambitions to establish an Islamic republic in Somalia. The continued clan fighting, and threats from the likes of Aweys, makes it appear very risky to send peacekeepers in.