Al-Shabaab Split Threatens to Open New Conflict Between Somalia's Islamists
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 9
May 16, 2012 12:10 PM
By:
<
http://www.jamestown.org/articles-by-author/?no_cache=1&tx_cablanttnewsstaf
frelation_pi1%5Bauthor%5D=626> Muhyadin Ahmed Roble
Despite recent celebrations of its merger with al-Qaeda, Somalia's Harakat
al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen movement has been suffering from a power struggle
in its leadership for the past two years. Though attempts have been made to
conceal it, the rift is believed to have contributed to al-Shabaab's loss of
Mogadishu, the national capital, as well as other strategic towns in
southern Somalia. Contributing to the cracks in the movement's solidarity is
the military pressure being applied against al-Shabaab on several fronts.
This has led to a greater reliance on al-Qaeda style tactics such as the May
1 suicide bombing in Dusamareb that killed three Somali members of
parliament (Reuters, May 1).
The ongoing rift between al-Shabaab official leader Shaykh Ahmed Abdi Godane
"Abu Zubayr" and Shaykh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansur," a senior commander and
former spokesman of the group, has now been joined by Shaykh Hassan Dahir
Aweys, a founder of Somalia's Islamic movement and former leader of the now
defunct independent Islamist movement Hizb al-Islam, which merged with
al-Shabaab in December, 2010. Aweys, whose group was pressured to merge with
al-Shabaab by Godane's allies, now appears ready to back Abu Mansur should
he make a bid for the group's leadership.
The quarrel between the movement's leaders became public earlier this year
when American al-Shabaab member Omar Hammami (a.k.a. Abu Mansur al-Amriki)
used a short online video clip on March 16 to express his fear that his life
was in danger from other al-Shabaab members:
I record this message today because I feel that my life may be endangered by
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen due to some differences that occurred
between us regarding matters of the Shari'a and matters of strategy. [1]
Al-Amriki, who was perhaps the best known al-Shabaab propagandist through
his English-language statements and jihadi rap videos, provided no further
details in his message, but Ahmed Abdi, a Nairobi-based political analyst,
said al-Amriki had succeeded in revealing the hidden rift over ideological
and strategy differences among al-Shabaab. [2]
Al-Shabaab's press office turned to its Twitter account to deny that the
group intended to cause any harm to al-Amriki: "HSM is surprised by the
video of Abu Mansur al-Amriki that surfaced on the internet recently
claiming that his life was 'endangered' by al-Shabaab." [3] The group also
pledged a formal investigation to verify the authenticity of the video and
the motivations behind it. Only days later, Shaykh Abdirahman Hudeyfa, the
newly-appointed governor of Juba region, confirmed that Omar Hammami had
been detained at a Shabaab meeting near Kismayo for the purpose of
investigation (SomaliaReport, March 19). Though unconfirmed reports
circulated that Hammami had been beheaded on April 4 at the order of
al-Shabaab's Shaykh Ahmed Abdi Godane, he has since been seen in the
Shabaab-held port town of Kismayo under heavy guard (SomaliaReport, April
19).
The leadership dispute was further inflamed when Shaykh Hassan Dahir Aweys
used a Friday sermon on March 30 in the coastal town of Marka (100 km south
of Mogadishu) to fearlessly attack al-Shabaab's top leadership, accusing
them of monopolizing jihad as well as globalizing the conflict by the merger
with al-Qaeda. [4]
Aweys seemed to be particularly angered by a new al-Shabaab fatwa that
banned the establishment of any new armed Islamic group or Islamic political
party in Somalia as of March 26. The fatwa appeared to be directed at
preventing the formation of a new nationalist rebel group from the allied
forces of Shaykh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Shaykh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansur."
The nationalist faction within the movement is trying to escape al-Shabaab's
current unpopularity and will be watching closely for a political
opportunity to open up when the mandate of the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) expires in August, 2012. [5]
While acknowledging al-Shabaab's well-known policy of assassinating anyone
who becomes a threat to the group, Shaykh Aweys stated that all those in the
Islamist movement had fallen silent due to fear of al-Shabaab's wrath and
called on al-Shabaab to "Stop the threats and assassinations of innocent
Muslims in the name of Islam. The world has passed the age of threats."
However, al-Shabaab's subsequent discovery of a major arms cache (including
anti-tank missiles) in a former Hizb al-Islam stronghold seemed an ominous
portent of future clashes between the Islamist factions. Though Aweys denied
ownership of the weapons, he nonetheless urged al-Shabaab to return the
weapons he described as Muslim property and promised to follow up on the
issue until al-Shabaab provides an explanation of why the weapons were
seized. Al-Shabaab's military spokesman, Shaykh Abdul Aziz "Abu Musab" said
any questions related to the weapon cache will be resolved by an Islamic
court. Nevertheless, as the splits grow greater in al-Shabaab's leadership,
various factions in the movement may be preparing for an internal battle in
which Shaykh Abdi Godane's global jihadists will fight tooth and nail to
suppress his rivals in any way possible.
Muhyadin Ahmed Roble is a Nairobi-based analyst for the Jamestown
Foundation's Terrorism Monitor publication.
Notes:
1. <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mvXeMwztYg>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mvXeMwztYg , March 16, 2012.
2. Author's interview with political analyst Ahmed Abdi, Nairobi, April 20,
2012.
3. <
https://twitter.com/#%21/HSMPress>
https://twitter.com/#!/HSMPress,
March 17, 2012.
4. Shaykh Hassan Dahir Aweys' Friday sermon, Marka, March 30, 2012
<
http://www.somdaily.com/2012/04/01/xasan-daahir-oo-weerarray-al-shabaab-dha
geyso/>
http://www.somdaily.com/2012/04/01/xasan-daahir-oo-weerarray-al-shabaab-dhag
eyso/
5. Statement from Shaykh Ahmed Abdi Godane, March 26, 2012,
<
http://www.raxanreeb.com/wp-content/uploads/Bayan-ham.pdf>
www.raxanreeb.com/wp-content/uploads/Bayan-ham.pdf
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Received on Wed May 16 2012 - 17:42:04 EDT
