Ethiopian wake up

Who are the Ahbash?
By negashi,on August 21st,2011
Who are the Ahbash? This is one that many Ethiopian Muslims raise these days,one being myself. Just to see what the internet could offer me,I have started from page to page where search words like 'ahbash','Abdullah Alhariri'could take me. The first material goole took me to is the following (from 1998 news release by Islamic Association of Massachusetts on June 11,1998 about 9 members of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP) –alias Ahbash who appeared before a court and admited committing Extortion:
is this criminal Semir al-Kadi the same guy who is taken so highly by the Ethiopian Government?
(Boston) On June 10,1998 in United States District Court in Boston defendant Riad Nachef,President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (A.I.C.P.) AKA AHBASH plead guilty to the federal charge of Conspiracy to commit Extortion as set forth in the original Grand Jury Indictment (18 U.S.C. 1951). Extortion is the obtaining the property of another with his consent induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force,violence or fear. A.I.C.P. is an international organization headquartered in Lebanon with offices in Philadelphia.
Nachef guilty plea followed four days of trial,during which two of the victims of the extortion scheme testified that the president of A.I.C.P. AKA AHBASH in order to gain control of the Islamic center owned by The Islamic Association of Massachusetts ("IAM") in Everett,Massachusetts launched a violent attack at a private residence of the President of IAM.
According to the trial testimony,Nachef and Samir Kadi Executive Vice President of A.I.C.P. and others from AHBASH forced their way into the home (then located in Chelsea Massachusetts) on March 22,1997,and proceeded to pistol whip and beat such President,Ahmad El-Arab and in addition to whip and beat one of its directors,Muhammad Al-Arab.
Nachef and eight others were arrested at the scene of the crime with blood still on their clothes and guns.
Following the guilty plea by Nachef,the remaining federal charges were dismissed as to the other seven defendants,who were present during the attack on the victims,However,the state charges that include assault and battery,home invasion,and other possible state charges are still pending against these eight men.
I was surprised by extent and depth of discussions I could read on different forum. This makes me aware of the extent of confusion the group has created in the mind of the greater Muslim community.
At one place I read of a brother who posted and asked about ahbash. The other replied him with a question –if the guy was not taling about Ethiopians:Assume you're not talking of the Ethiopians?. One even went on expressing his disappointment by saying "I thought Bilal was a `true Muslim>Oh! He was Ahbashi".
My next destination was the groups official website:http://www.aicp.org. My search has not yet exhausted. I will try to share you what I come accross along the way. In the mean time you may read the article on this link:http://www.islamicweb.com/beliefs/cults/habasi_history.htm.
Nice reading.