A self-confessed 'American jihadist' has released an online
autobiography chronicling his journey from what he called his
'privileged' childhood in Alabama to the top of America's most wanted
list as an al-Qaeda terrorist in Somalia. Omar Hammami, whose jihadist nom de guerre is Abu Mansur al-Amriki, said he was releasing the first part of his memoir, "The Story of an American Jihaadi, Part One,"
because of the "unpredictable nature" of his chosen life. Indeed,
Hammami faces danger from both the United States, with unmanned aerial
drones constantly buzzing overhead hunting for men just like him, as
well as from his fellow jihadists, who he says want to kill him over
"differences regarding matters of Sharia and strategy."
The
publication of the memoir ends widespread speculation which began in
April when unconfirmed reports from mainstream media outlets such as Fox News
claimed that Hammami was beheaded by rival factions of al-Shaabab, the
al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group which the American joined shortly after
entering the East African country in 2006. Hammami had
helped fuel speculation of his demise when he released a video in March
in which he said his life had been threatened by some of his comrades. "I record this message today because I feel my life may be endangered
by Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahadeen due to some differences that
occurred between us regarding matters of Shariah and matters of
strategy," he declares in the video, which was produced at an unknown location, presumably in Somalia. In his memoir, the 28-year-old Daphne, Alabama native fondly recalls
that he was "brought up like most of the children in America,"
celebrating Christmas and birthdays and hunting with family like one of
"the good old boys" of the South. The son of a Syrian father (just like
Steve Jobs, he writes) and a Southern Baptist mother, Hammami recounts
the religious awakening he experienced as a teenager that led him to to
Islam. In 2002, in the wake of the September 11
terror attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York,
Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Hammami dropped out of
college and moved to Toronto, Canada to study "blacklisted" Islamic
books. While there, he married a Somali woman and the
couple gave birth to a baby girl. But jihad called, and soon the family
relocated to Egypt where Hammami met Daniel Maldonado, a fellow American
jihadist. Maldonado helped him travel to Somalia, a journey his wife
was not willing to make. "She refused to come to Somalia
and insisted that I should simply come back to Canada and live happily
ever after (fat chance!)," he writes in his memoir. Hammami struck out on his own, joining al-Shabaab shortly after arriving in Somalia. The publication of his autobiography, which is dated May 16, 2012 and
signed "still alive and well," was met with relief by Debra Hammami,
Omar's mother.
"The silence has been devastating," she told ABC News
at her home in Daphne, Alabama on Thursday. "I don't agree with the
ideology of any of that, but I do love my son and I do have that
motherly love." "If I could touch him for five minutes, I would be thrilled," she added. Omar Hammami has given just one media interview in recent months. After viewing Current TV's 2010 documentary "American Jihadi," he contacted Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel, who asked him if he would ever consider surrendering to the U.S.
"Of course not! I didn't leave America for a thrill ride with the
hopes of finding a get out of jail free card at the end of the
boardwalk," he told Current TV's Putzel from an undisclosed location, referring to the popular board game "Monopoly."
"This is a struggle of creed, culture and civilization that won't end
until Islam is supreme," he added. "My life is just one drop in the
bucket... I wouldn't trade the blessing of martyrdom in this cause for
anything in this world or even all of it ten times over."
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