Militant uses rap to recruit

WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI)
Alabama-born, Somalia-based militant is using hip-hop music to condemn the U.S. presence in Muslim countries, authorities said.
Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, 26, whose real name is Omar Hammami, was born to a Syrian father and Southern Baptist mother in Alabama.
During the last year he has released five hip-hop songs on the Internet praising the virtues of jihad and urging the slaughter of the U.S. military and U.S. political leaders, ABC News reported Tuesday.
Hammami is believed to be a member of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamic militant group aligned with al-Qaida that is fighting the government of Somalia.
In his song "Blow by Blow" Hammami says, "It all started out in Afghanistan/When we wiped the oppressors off the land/The Union crumbled, rumbled and tumbled/Humbled, left them mumbled."
His music represents an attempt to recruit young, Western Muslims who prefer listening to music rather than religious preaching, authorities said.