Hawiye Militant warlords combing diaspora for recruits

IF the Islamists arrested in Tuesday's pre-dawn raids were plotting to storm Australian army bases, it is unlikely al-Shabaab told them to do it.The al-Qa'ida linked extremist group has been conducting a massive international recruitment among the Somali diaspora to bolster its forces as it fights for control of Mogadishu and the imposition of strict Islamic rule across Somalia. The young men it lures from Western countries such as Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US join a Somali jihad, not a transnational movement such as al-Qa'ida, which has global aspirations. In May, The Times reported that up to 1000 foreign fighters, including Britons, had answered the call to jihad in Somalia and its war-torn capital, Mogadishu. What al-Shabaab cannot do is stop the foreign fighters it has radicalised in its training camps from returning home to attack domestic targets in the name ofIslam. Western intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of returning ethnic Somalis doing just that. Al-Shabaab is keen to keep its foreign fighters committed to the Somali jihad terrorism . Their efforts are said to have greatly contributed to the Islamists' recent military successes. But to attract such recruits, al-Shabaab's own propaganda plays up its ties with other Islamist insurgencies such as those in Algeria and Chechnya. And al-Qa'ida's promotion of al-Shabaab -- Osama bin Laden has personally urged his followers to join the fight there -- has widened its appeal among Islamist communities around the world with broader concerns than just Somalia. ..more..http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25890134-31477,00.html
Al-Qaedastan