NAIROBI — Behind the gates of his Islamic school in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighborhood, Ahmed Awil cannot escape his country’s civil war.Schools and mosques where extremist views are taught are reshaping this Somali immigrant community, which for years has lived peacefully in the capital of this predominantly Christian country. Moderate imams now compete with hard-line preachers pushing a strict interpretation of Islam.Bookstores sell anti-Western literature. Residents speak fearfully of militant spies, and children like Ahmed are taught to praise al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda-linked militia, for waging jihad in Somalia against the US-backed government.“My teachers tell us al-Shabab is fighting for our religion and for our country,’’ said Ahmed, a skinny 11-year-old who fled Somalia after al-Shabab fighters slaughtered his neighbor and tried to recruit him. “Sometimes they ask us if we would like to go there and fight.’’Eastleigh, a run-down enclave where tens of thousands of Somalis live, has become an incubator for Islamic extremism, Kenyan officials and community leaders say. It has also emerged as a micro-battlefield in the war on terrorism, attracting American funds.“What most worries me is that this extremist ideology will continue to grow,’’ said Dualle Abdi Malik, the director of Fathu Rahman, a moderate Islamic school.Somali immigrant communities across the Horn of Africa and Yemen have come under greater scrutiny since bombings in July targeted World Cup soccer fans in Uganda. Al-Shabab asserted responsibility for the attacks.Members of al-Shabab and other Somali militants freely travel to Nairobi to raise funds, recruit, and treat wounded fighters, according to UN and Kenyan security officials. Somali-American jihadists have met contacts in Eastleigh before heading to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab.Eastleigh, community leaders say, is an ideal breeding ground for radicalism. The neighborhood is poor and isolated; few Kenyans enter it. Local authorities have ignored it.Kenyan police have long harassed Somalis, demanding bribes under threat of arrest or deportation, generating resentment.Radical Muslim preachers are filling the void, playing a key role in recruiting and fund-raising for al-Shabab, officials say.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Nairobi neighborhood becomes incubator for Somali extremists
NAIROBI — Behind the gates of his Islamic school in Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighborhood, Ahmed Awil cannot escape his country’s civil war.Schools and mosques where extremist views are taught are reshaping this Somali immigrant community, which for years has lived peacefully in the capital of this predominantly Christian country. Moderate imams now compete with hard-line preachers pushing a strict interpretation of Islam.Bookstores sell anti-Western literature. Residents speak fearfully of militant spies, and children like Ahmed are taught to praise al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda-linked militia, for waging jihad in Somalia against the US-backed government.“My teachers tell us al-Shabab is fighting for our religion and for our country,’’ said Ahmed, a skinny 11-year-old who fled Somalia after al-Shabab fighters slaughtered his neighbor and tried to recruit him. “Sometimes they ask us if we would like to go there and fight.’’Eastleigh, a run-down enclave where tens of thousands of Somalis live, has become an incubator for Islamic extremism, Kenyan officials and community leaders say. It has also emerged as a micro-battlefield in the war on terrorism, attracting American funds.“What most worries me is that this extremist ideology will continue to grow,’’ said Dualle Abdi Malik, the director of Fathu Rahman, a moderate Islamic school.Somali immigrant communities across the Horn of Africa and Yemen have come under greater scrutiny since bombings in July targeted World Cup soccer fans in Uganda. Al-Shabab asserted responsibility for the attacks.Members of al-Shabab and other Somali militants freely travel to Nairobi to raise funds, recruit, and treat wounded fighters, according to UN and Kenyan security officials. Somali-American jihadists have met contacts in Eastleigh before heading to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab.Eastleigh, community leaders say, is an ideal breeding ground for radicalism. The neighborhood is poor and isolated; few Kenyans enter it. Local authorities have ignored it.Kenyan police have long harassed Somalis, demanding bribes under threat of arrest or deportation, generating resentment.Radical Muslim preachers are filling the void, playing a key role in recruiting and fund-raising for al-Shabab, officials say.
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