Somali rebels join forces in cyberspace: U.N. report

 NAIROBI (Reuters) - Armed rebel groups in Somalia are using the Internet for fundraising and recruitment, and they achieve better results through the Web than they do on the ground, a United Nations report said.
The report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia also highlighted how the rebels use the Internet to spread information about making bombs and religious rulings.It cited a three-day, live fundraiser in May last year and another online forum in March 2009 attended by senior members of al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main rebel groups fighting the Western-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed."Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam have regularly conducted joint forums, achieving a greater degree of cooperation in cyberspace than they do on the ground," the report said.Al Shabaab launched a two-week online fundraiser for its fighters in August 2009, which drew senior regional rebel leaders and hundreds of participants in the Somali diaspora, the report said.Forum participants made pledges totaling more than $40,000 during the event at which the leaders told of the hardships facing fighters and their families."The Internet continues to play an important role in propaganda, recruiting and fund-raising by Somali armed groups," the monitoring group said.
ONLINE FATWAThe most active al Shabaab online outlet is www.alqimmah.net, established in September 2007 and registered in Sweden.The site is used to disseminate and produce the rebel group's information material, "making it an integral part" of al Shabaab's propaganda.Last August it posted a 47-page religious ruling, or fatwa, against the Djibouti peace process, which is aimed at putting together an inclusive Somali government.The fatwa has provided Somali rebel groups with religious justification for waging war against the government of Somalia.   Next