This is quite good. The whole interview can be seen here.
H/T Oz-Rita
Category Archives: al-shabab
Journeyman pictures 16 minutes on Mali from Aug 2012
H/T Don L
This is quite good. They keep emphasizing that all people here are Muslims but many or most cannot tolerate the Al Queda style rule they are imposing everywhere they go. As the African Muslims most likely do not read Arabic and have no idea what is in the Koran at all, their being Muslim is likely more a vestigial cultural remnant more than an actual observed religion. Also I highly doubt the claim that Mali is the “most culturally diverse place on earth”.
The Islamic version of Santaria is interesting and not surprising to anyone familiar with black culture in South America and parts of the US south. Good luck on the magic though.
Terror on Twitter. Al Shabaab and Al Queda tweet their message of horror and oppression, and follow no-one.
I’m not sure you can be cuter than this girl and not be an actual puppy.
HOW SOMALI TERRORISTS ARE RECRUITED IN NORWAY
Throughout Scandinavia as well.
Translation: Chinadroll
(VG.no AP) Somali terrorist network with ties to Norway is managed from the Swedish suburb of Rinkeby .
It often begins on the internet. Curious young men, for it is mostly men, are swayed by hate propaganda and film clips of bullets and gunpowder. But women are also lured into the embrace of extremism.
Scandinavian-Somali members of the al-Shabaab focus on online recruiting, says Stig Jarle Hansen, one of the most prominent experts on Somalia.
In a upcoming report from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) that VG net has access to, it emerged that a Norwegian-Somali man was killed in Somalia in the winter of 2011. He is alleged to have been radicalized by al-Shabaab Islamists with branches throughout Scandinavia.
– The group has a local focus but a global rhetoric and an increased focus on overseas, says the researcher.
And the Norwegian citizen who was killed in Somalia this winter is said to have had contact with people in Sweden and Finland, before he later joined the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
Central to the network is a radical environment in the suburb of Rinkeby in Stockholm.
From here, many Swedes have traveled to Somalia to fight ‘holy war’ there.
The suburb is colloquially known as “Little Mogadishu” because so many Somalis live there.
No one convicted
Several other Scandinavian Somalis have been recruited by the same network. Among these, several Swedes lost their lives as “holy warriors” in Somalia.
But no one in the network, which continues to recruit according to VG net, has ever been convicted. Two Swedish-Somalis were brought to justice, but acquitted because the court did not think there was proof that Shabaab were terrorists.
Not surprised
Magnus Ranstorp at the Defence College of Sweden is not surprised that Somalis from all the Scandinavian countries are being recruited for terrorism.
From Sweden there have been 15 to 20 individuals who have gone to fight jihad in Somalia.
– There is a natural link to Oslo through the Somali community in Gothenburg. Operationally there is a belt from Copenhagen via Malmö, Gothenburg and Oslo, said the Swedish terrorism expert.
The same environment is linked to Rinkeby in Stockholm, said Ranstorp.
– I know that there are connections through certain websites and that there are study groups in Gothenburg, says Ranstorp, who also believes that many mid-level leaders in the al-Qaeda-affiliated organization are located in Scandinavia.
Several other Scandinavian Somalis have been recruited by the same network. Among these, several Swedes lost their lives as “holy warriors” in Somalia.
But none of the network, which after the AP experience continues to recruit, has ever been convicted. Two Swedish-Somalis were brought to justice, but acquitted because the court did not think it was shown that Shabaab were terrorists.
Somali kids win weapons in Koran contest
YNET News
Young radio contest winners in Somalia receive rifles, two bombs, religious books
Associated Press
Published:09.20.11, 23:47 / Israel News
An Islamist insurgent-run radio station in Somalia says it is awarding guns, bombs and books to three children in a Koran recital contest.
Andulus radio station is run by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militia.
Role models? Somali militiamen (Photo: AP)
The station announced Monday that the first prize winner in the contest received a rifle and $700, the second prize winner got a rifle and $500, and the third prize winner received two bombs.
All three children also received religious books.
Al-Shabab is battling Somalia’s weak, UN-backed government. The militants have recently been weakened by famine in territory they control.
Somalia has been plagued by violence and religious extremism, with a leader of the country’s Islamist insurgency threatening late last year to attack the United States.
“We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country,” said Fuad Mohamed “Shongole” Qalaf.
Somalia’s Starving Christians Struggle After Beheading
From Bosnewslife
Please click through for the whole article
Sunday, September 18, 2011 (10:39 am)
By Stefan J. Bos and Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife Correspondents
Al-Shabab fighters have killed Christians.
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BosNewsLife)–- Hungry minority Christians in Somalia faced another struggle Sunday, September 18, after suspected Islamic militants beheaded a Christian convert and foreign aid workers were banned from reaching a dying population.
Somali Christians and human rights activists confirmed that the body of Juma Nuradin Kamil, a kidnapped Christian who converted from Islam, was found decapitated near the southern town of Hudur on September 2.
He was apparently killed after three suspected members of the Islamic group al-Shabab pushed him into a car, witnesses said.
“Islamic radicals kidnapped a Christian brother and then beheaded him. His decapitated body was discovered” by locals on a street, explained Jonathan Racho, the regional manager for Africa of advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC).
National Post: Canada’s role in Al Shabab recruitment for Islamic terror
Canada not refuting extremist ideologies, U.S. committee told
Feisal Omar/REUTERS
New recruits belonging to Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab rebel group celebrate during a passing out parade at a military training base in Afgoye, west of the capital Mogadishu February 17, 2011.
Stewart Bell Jul 27, 2011 – 6:50 PM ET | Last Updated: Jul 27, 2011 6:56 PM ET
A U.S. Congressional committee on terrorist recruitment of American Muslims turned its attention north on Wednesday, as a prominent Somali-Canadian leader testified that Ottawa had failed to tackle the ideology of extremists.
Ahmed Hussen, president of the Canadian Somali Congress, told U.S. lawmakers that the Canadian government was concentrating on detecting and arresting terror suspects while leaving their rhetoric unchallenged.
“The strategy of Canadian officials as they confront this phenomenon in my community has been to view this serious matter only through the prism of law enforcement,” he said. “There has not been a parallel attempt to counter the toxic anti-Western narrative that creates a culture of victimhood in the minds of members of our community.” Continue Reading →
Al Shabaab: Recruitment and Radicalization within the Muslim American Community and the Threat to the Homeland
From Homeland Security.gov
311 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Jul 27, 2011 10:00am
On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, the Committee on Homeland Security will hold the third in the series of hearings on domestic radicalization entitled “Al Shabaab: Recruitment and Radicalization within the Muslim American Community and the Threat to the Homeland.” The Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. in 311 Cannon House Office Building.
Note: Please note the time change from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Chairman King on the hearing:
“In our first two hearings, the Committee has examined radicalization of Muslim-Americans generally and focused on the problem of radicalization in U.S. prisons.
“At this hearing, the third in a series, we will examine Somalia-based terrorist organization al Shabaab’s ongoing recruitment, radicalization, and training of young Muslim-Americans and al Shabaab’s linking up with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
“In Minnesota, Ohio, and other states, dozens of young Muslim males have been recruited, radicalized, and then taken from their communities for overseas terrorist training by al Shabaab. In a number of cases, the men – including both Somali-Americans and other converts — have carried out suicide bombings or have otherwise been killed, often without their families even knowing where their sons have gone. There has not been sufficient cooperation from mosque leaders. In at least one instance, a Minnesota imam told the desperate family of a missing young man not to cooperate with the FBI.
“There are growing concerns that al Shabaab in Somalia is linking up with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen to better train these radicalized young men in order to attack Americans around the world, as well as launch attacks against our homeland.
“This coordinated and ongoing recruitment and radicalization of young Muslim men in the U.S. is a serious and growing threat to our homeland security and simply cannot be ignored.”
Witnesses
Mr. Ahmed Hussen
Canadian Somali Congress National President
[full text of testimony]
Mr. Thomas Joscelyn
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
[full text of testimony]
Mr. William Anders Folk
Former Assistant United States Attorney
District of Minnesota
[full text of testimony]
Mr. Tom Smith
Chief of Police
Saint Paul, Minnesota
[full text of testimony]
Al Qaeda’s New Video: A Message of Defeat
“Al Qaeda’s New Video: A Message of Defeat is republished with permission of STRATFOR.”
By Scott Stewart
A new video from al Qaeda’s media arm, As-Sahab, became available on the Internet on June 2. The video was 100 minutes long, distributed in two parts and titled “Responsible Only for Yourself.” As the name suggests, this video was the al Qaeda core’s latest attempt to encourage grassroots jihadists to undertake lone-wolf operations in the West, a recurrent theme in jihadist messages since late 2009.
The video, which was well-produced and contained a number of graphics and special effects, features historical footage of a number of militant Islamist personalities, including Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abdullah Azzam and Abu Yahya al-Libi.
In addition to al-Libi, who is considered a prominent al Qaeda ideological authority, the video also features an extensive discourse from another Libyan theologian, Sheikh Jamal Ibrahim Shtaiwi al-Misrati. Al-Misrati (who is from Misurata, as one can surmise from his name) was also featured in a March 25 As-Sahab message encouraging jihadists in Libya to assume control of the country and place it under Shariah once the Gadhafi regime is overthrown. The still photo used over the March message featuring al-Misrati was taken from the video used in the June 2 message, indicating that the recently released video of al-Misrati was shot prior to March 25. The video also contains a short excerpt of a previously released Arabic language Al-Malahim media video by Anwar al-Awlaki and an English-language statement by Adam Gadahn that is broken up into small segments and appears periodically throughout the video.
Despite the fact that many of the video segments used to produce this product are quite dated, there is a reference to bin Laden as a shaheed, or martyr, so this video was obviously produced after his death.
Unlike the As-Sahab message on the same topic featuring Adam Gadahn released in March 2010 and the English-language efforts of 
al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s “Inspire” magazine, this video is primarily in Arabic, indicating that it is intended to influence an Arabic-speaking audience.
To date, much of the media coverage pertaining to the release of this video has focused on one short English-language segment in which Adam Gadahn encourages Muslims in the United States to go to gun shows and obtain automatic weapons to use in shooting attacks. This focus is understandable given the contentiousness of the gun-control issue in the United States, but a careful examination of the video reveals far more than just fodder for the U.S. gun-control debate.
Contents of the Video
The first 36 minutes of the video essentially comprise a history lesson of militants who heard the call to jihad and then acted on it. Among the examples are individuals such as ElSayyid Nosair, the assassin of Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane; Abdel Basit (also known as Ramzi Yousef), the operational planner of the 1993 World Trade Center attack and the thwarted Bojinka plot; Mohammed Bouyeri, the assassin of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh; and Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Others include the leader of the team of assassins who killed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the militants behind the Mumbai attacks.
Then, after listing those examples, the video emphasizes the point that if one is to live in the “real Islamic way,” one must also follow the examples of the men profiled. Furthermore, since the “enemies of Islam” have expanded their “attacks against Islam” in many different places, the video asserts that it is not only in the land of the Muslims that the enemies of Islam must be attacked, but also in their homelands (i.e., the West). In fact, the video asserts that it is easy to strike the enemies of Islam in their home countries and doing so creates the biggest impact. And this is the context in which Gadahn made his widely publicized comment about Muslims buying guns and conducting armed assaults.
Now, it is important to briefly address this comment by Gadahn: While it is indeed quite easy for U.S. citizens to legally purchase a wide variety of firearms, it is illegal for them to purchase fully automatic weapons without first obtaining the proper firearms license. This fixation with obtaining fully automatic rifles instead of purchasing readily available and legal semi-automatic weapons has led to the downfall of a number of jihadist plots inside the United States, including one just last month in New York. Therefore, aspiring jihadists who would seek to follow Gadahn’s recommendations to the letter would almost certainly find themselves quickly brought to the attention of the authorities.
When we look at the rest of Gadahn’s comments in this video, it is clear the group is trying to convey a number of other interesting points. First, Gadahn notes that jihadists wanting to undertake lone-wolf activities must take all possible measures to keep their plotting secret, and the first thing they should do is avail themselves of all the electronic manuals available on the Internet pertaining to security.
A few minutes later in the video, Gadahn remarks on a point made in a segment from a U.S. news program that the Hollywood perception of the capabilities of the National Security Agency (NSA) is nowhere near what those capabilities are in real life and that, while the NSA and other Western intelligence agencies collect massive amounts of data, it is hard for them to link the pieces together to gain intelligence on a pending attack plan. This is true, and the difficulty of putting together disparate intelligence to complete the big picture is something STRATFOR has long discussed. Gadahn notes that the downfall of most grassroots operations is loose lips and not the excellence of Western intelligence and urges aspiring grassroots jihadists to trust no one and to reveal their plans to no one, not even friends and family members. This claim is also true. Most thwarted grassroots plots have been uncovered due to poor operational security and sloppy tradecraft.
The video also contains lengthy theological discussions justifying the jihadist position that jihad is a compulsory, individual obligation for every able-bodied Muslim. As the video turns to the necessity of attacking the enemies of Islam in their homelands, Gadahn notes that Americans are people who crave comfort and security and that terrorist attacks scare them and take away their will to fight Muslims. According to Gadahn, terrorist attacks also cause the people to object to leaders who want to attack Islam, and the people will not vote for those leaders. Continue Reading →
Dispatch: Jihadist Groups After bin Laden’s Death
From STRATFOR:
Video here:
Vice President of Tactical Intelligence Scott Stewart discusses some of the al Qaeda franchise groups and other jihadist threats following the death of Osama bin Laden.
Editor’s Note: Transcripts are generated using speech-recognition technology. Therefore, STRATFOR cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, one of the things it is important to keep in mind is that jihadism is much bigger than just the al Qaeda core group. In fact, over the last several years, we have seen the franchise groups come to eclipse the core group in terms of importance on the physical battlefield and the ideological battlefield.
Many people have been saying, over the last day or so, that they believe jihadist terrorism is dead with the death of bin Laden, and that al Qaeda will be no more. But I think that a thoughtful discussion of this topic needs to look at what al Qaeda is.
At STRATFOR, when we look at jihadism, we see it as a much broader phenomenon than just al Qaeda. In fact, at the apex of the jihadist movement we do have al Qaeda core group. But below that we have a whole array of regional franchise jihadist groups. And further down we have an even broader, diffuse selection of people whom we call grassroots jihadists. Those are people who are radicalized, who have adopted a jihadist ideology but who do not have a real connection to the al Qaeda core or the franchise groups. Continue Reading →
Somali Canadians grapple with terrorism’s appeal to youth
THESTAR… She grew up on a quiet, tree-lined street near Martin Grove Rd. and Finch Ave. in northwest Toronto. She wore jeans, babysat her younger siblings, watched movies with friends and sometimes, though not often, played truant at school. About a year ago, the 19-year-old enrolled in university.
That was her life — until about a year and a half ago.
Then she started to change. She suddenly became religious, began to wear a headscarf and long skirt, the traditional Somali dress. Her views changed as radically as her clothing. She began to talk fervently about “injustice” in Somalia, her native country, and the foreign powers occupying it.
“Her behaviour was disruptive,” said a family friend, who did not want to be identified.
The teenager and her best friend, both of whom are believed to have gone to Somalia and joined Al-Shabaab, fit the pattern of young Somali-Canadians leaving their families to fight with the Islamist youth militia. At least 10 have left Canada to fight with the Shabaab since 2009, the majority from Toronto. Continue Reading →
Terror suspect no ‘direct threat’ to Canadians: RCMP
CBC…A man who was arrested in Toronto on charges that he was to join to a Somali group deemed a terrorist organization by the federal government does not pose a “direct threat” to Canadians, RCMP say.
Mohamed Hassan Hersi, 25, arrested at Pearson International Airport without incident Tuesday evening and made a brief court appearance Wednesday morning in Toronto.
He was charged with attempting to participate in terrorist activity and with providing counsel to a person to participate in terrorist activity. He will remain in custody until a Friday morning bail hearing.
“There was nothing in the investigation that would suggest a direct threat to Canadians within Canada,” said RCMP Insp. Keith Finn at a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Toronto.
“However, the issue of radicalization and of people from Canada travelling overseas and receiving that type of further indoctrination and training remains a concern to the RCMP and our partners as far as national security is concerned.”
Finn could not discuss the specifics of the charges, saying they were before the courts and they would be revealed later.
It’s alleged Hersi was bound for Cairo after a stop in London, England. He was then due to travel to Somalia “to join [the militant group] al-Shabaab and participate in their terrorist activities,” RCMP allege.
His arrest comes after a joint investigation by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team and the Toronto Police Service’s intelligence division.
Below, a CTV video on the issue.
The black flag of jihad.
One can’t help but notice that whenever Muslims do something awful, they do it in front of a black cloth with Arabic writing on it. The writing, is the declaration of faith of Islam. Specifically, “There is no god but….” and the rest of that nonsense we are all too familiar with. But why behead people in front of that? Surely if Islam is a religion of peace, the declaration of faith to Allah would be a highly inappropriate standard in front of which, to cut people’s heads off. It must just be a few ‘misunderstanders of Islam’ right?
Cut to Armistice day 2010 in England. Tommy Robinson’s group, The English Defence League, confronts a group of Muslims calling themselves, “Muslims against Crusaders” who chanted insults at British soldiers both living and dead. No doubt Anjem Chaudery’s bunch who used to be called Sharia for UK and changed their name to avoid a ban by the British government. A weak and stupid strategy if there ever was one by the Brits I might add.
Tommy Robinson was arrested for what he did that day. So a number of us, myself, a British lawyer working with Tommy’s legal defence team, (Lawman) and Baron Bodissey of The Gates of Vienna, put in some time over the last few days to research exactly what this black flag with white writing is all about as we see it whenever Muslims threaten, or actually do us harm.
This is the result.
Here are some more photos of the declaration of war, this time in Oz:
Somalia’s al-Shabab bans mixed-sex handshakes
7 January 2011 Last updated at 13:21 ET
Somalia’s al-Shabab bans mixed-sex handshakes BBC
Continue reading the main story
SOMALIA – FAILED STATE
- Mogadishu mayor: ‘I may be killed’
- Women: Marry or be beheaded
- City of corpses
- EU trains new government troops
Men and women have been banned from shaking hands in a district of Somalia controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.
Under the ban imposed in the southern town of Jowhar, men and women who are not related are also barred from walking together or chatting in public.
It is the first time such social restrictions have been introduced.
The al-Shabab administration said those who disobeyed the new rules would be punished according to Sharia law.
The BBC’s Mohamed Moalimuu in Mogadishu says the penalty would probably be a public flogging.
The militant group has already banned music in areas that it controls, which include most of central and southern Somalia.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991.
The UN-backed government only controls parts of Mogadishu and a few other areas.
A contrast on 2 book burnings.
The important French web site, Bivouac, made an important observation. One Florida pastor, a certain Pastor Terry Jones, received massive MSM condemnation from media in the USA and abroad, most notably in the UK, for planning to burn copies of the Koran which were his personal property. He wished to do this as a statement about how Muslims treat Christians and other non Muslims around the world, and demand to build Mosques in the US right where thousands of unsuspecting American civilians were slaughtered at work by Muslims in the name of Islam. Agree with him or not, the media attention he received was not flattering and was copious.
Contrast that with this story:
Islamic Militants Destroy Underground Christian Library in Somalia
In the above story, the Christian books were not the property of Al Shabaab. They were forcibly taken (Stolen is not a strong enough term) and burned en masse in the city centre to make a very strong statement about how any religion other than Islam will not be tolerated. Yet the mainstream media is deadly silent. One has to get this from essentially underground Christian press, which seems to be the last bastion of freedom of speech and accurate reporting left on Earth.