Somalia ::Islamists face off in deepening rifts. Is Shabab at war within itself?

Mogadishu(tf.sf) The Alshabaab rebel group has failed to heal a growing rift among senior leaders of their group, following a crucial meeting in Mogadishu to stem a threatening differing views based on clan and political power, Somalijournal has learnt.During a eight-hour meeting in Mogadishu‘s Suqaholaha area, the two rebel leaders Ahmed Abdi Godane who is the current leader of the group and his second in command Sheikh Mukhtar Robow have faced off on getting solutions for dying young boys mainly from Robow’s hometown of Baidoa to fruitless fighting and Godane’s proposal to keep them onboard and at last walked out of the meeting with anger."The grounds for this deepening rift is just about politics, their failure of solution is indicating how bad the group is weakening time after time for the failed Ramadan war" Abdullahi Nor Ghelle, a Somali political analyst told Somalijournal "In terms of the contentious matter, its not easy to overcome differences and to initiate a new beginning on political and popular levels," he said yesterday.The group has vowed all out war against the Somali government and the African Union peacekeeping forces, but inherited more death and painful shelling which disheartened many young and older fighters who instead came back with dead colleagues and deafened ones for the sharp shelling by the AU tanks.Robow also clashed with his hometown elders who lost many young boys for him to fight alongside Alshabaab on the whereabouts of their mostly dead and badly wounded boys.The other resentment of the group also bagun when the AlShabaab‘s leader, Ahmad Godane alias Abu-Zubayr, appointed a man hailing from his clan as a cashier to control the money they collect from the business people in southern Somalia. Reports confirm that Robow abu Mansur, a high ranking official in Al-Shabab, became furious when Abu-Zubayr appointed leaders for Bay and Bakool regions which is Robow’s hometowns a men who are not hail from those regions.Ahmad Godane is said to have faced some difficulties from the foreigners who now support Robow Abu-Mansur. The foreigners called on Ahmad Godane to leave the country for other countries with which has close relationship in order to resolve the rift among Al-Shabab Islamists.Meanwhile Somalia's information minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman , has said that his government was ready to welcome any defectors from Alshabaab."We are renewing our call to the international community to assist the transitional government and the AU peacekeepers in order to restore peace in country,"Yarisow said. By Abdi Mohamed Somalijournal

Somalia at War – Between Radical Islam and Tribal Politics