London (terrorfreesomalia) - A videotape of Omar Hammami in which he urges "commanders of jihad and the honorable scholars" to intervene to resolve "friction" between foreign fighters and Somali members of Shabaab was released on the Internet yesterday.
Hammami, the American terrorist also known as Abu Mansour al Amriki, who has served as a Shabaab military commander, propagandist, recruiter, and fundraiser, has previously stated that his life is in danger.
The videotape, titled "An Urgent Message," was released on the YouTube account of somalimuhajirwarrior, the same account used to upload other statements since March. Hammami's statement, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, is in Arabic.
The videotape was recorded at the same time as the March 16, 2012 video in which Hammami claimed he was in danger but did not specify why [see LWJ report, American terrorist feels 'life may be endangered' by Shabaab]. In both videos, Hammami appears against the exact same backdrop (seated in front of an al Qaeda flag pinned to a white wall), is wearing the same clothes, and the AK-47 is positioned in the same spot.
In the videotape that was released yesterday, Hammami warns of a "bitter state of being that surrounds the emigrants of Somalia," a reference to foreign fighters or al Qaeda, and asks jihadists, clerics, and commanders to intervene with "a radical solution."
Hammami says that historically "a type of friction" exists "between the people of the global jihad and the people of the local way of thinking."
"I witnessed important parts of this history during my friction with the men of al Qaeda like Abu Talha al Sudani, Abu Abdullah al Sudani, Abu Mansour al Bayhani, Saleh al Nabhan, and Abu Fadl al Qamri," Hammami says, naming top al Qaeda leaders in East Africa who have been killed over the past several years. "The conflict that was taking place in Somalia between those men and between the emirs of [unclear] is still continuing, after some were captured and the majority martyred."
Hammami says that personal and religious differences have fueled the conflicts between the groups, and warns that the faction that seeks to wage "global jihad" may lose.
"We are afraid that this conflict might end soon in the favor of those who don't want the battalions of global jihad to take off from the Land of the Two Emigrations [Somalia] to bother the disbelievers and destroy their interests around the world. Worse than that, we are afraid that this end will come in an unfavorable way of oppression, imprisonment and domestic fighting," he says.
Although rumors of tensions between Somali Shabaab commanders and foreign al Qaeda leaders in Shabaab have been reported in the past, there is no evidence that the groups have come to blows due to the differences. Shabaab officially merged with al Qaeda in early February after years of operating closely together. Many top Shabaab leaders have been members of al Qaeda.
Hammami himself has been rumored to have been killed or imprisoned by Shabaab after releasing the March 16 video, but he released an autobiography on May 16, which was signed "Still alive and well (by May 16 2012), Omar Hammami, Somaalia." Eight days later, a picture of Hammami posing with his autobiography was released.
On the following day, May 25, Hammami released a four-part statement calling for jihadists to declare a global Islamic caliphate.
Background on Omar Hammami
Hammami has served as a military commander, propagandist, "recruitment strategist, and financial manager" for Shabaab, and is closely linked to al Qaeda, according to the US government. Hammami is on the US's list of specially designated global terrorists.
In May 2011, Hammami spoke at a public rally with other top Shabaab leaders to eulogize Osama bin Laden just 10 days after the death of the al Qaeda leader. During the rally, Hammani appeared with other top al Qaeda-linked Shabaab leaders, including Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
"We are all Osama," Hammami told the crowd as he spoke at a podium. He also said that Shabaab and al Qaeda would continue their jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate.
"Today, we remind the Muslims that the caliphate [Islamic rule] shall soon be reborn," Hammani said while eulogizing bin Laden. "May Allah accept our dear beloved sheikh [Osama bin Laden] and cause our swords to become instruments of his avenging."
Hammami has played a crucial role in Shabaab's propaganda efforts to recruit Western fighters to join Shabaab's jihad in Somalia. In December 2011 and January 2012, Hammami appeared in photographs with a Western fighter. The Long War Journal identified the fighter as Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, an American who recruited for the terror group and left the US in October 2009 to wage jihad in Somalia. Faarax is wanted by the FBI.
Hammami was reported to have been killed in a US airstrike in March 2011, but one month later he released a nasheed, or song, that mocked the reports. In the clumsy rap, Hammami said he wanted to die in a US airstrike or special operations raid, like top al Qaeda leaders Abu Laith al Libi, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, and Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
For more information on Hammami, see LWJ reports, American Shabaab commander speaks at rally for Osama bin Laden in Somalia and US adds American, Kenyan Shabaab leaders to list of designated terrorists.
AQAP's top sharia official killed in recent drone strike - The Long War Journal
Hammami, the American terrorist also known as Abu Mansour al Amriki, who has served as a Shabaab military commander, propagandist, recruiter, and fundraiser, has previously stated that his life is in danger.
The videotape, titled "An Urgent Message," was released on the YouTube account of somalimuhajirwarrior, the same account used to upload other statements since March. Hammami's statement, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, is in Arabic.
The videotape was recorded at the same time as the March 16, 2012 video in which Hammami claimed he was in danger but did not specify why [see LWJ report, American terrorist feels 'life may be endangered' by Shabaab]. In both videos, Hammami appears against the exact same backdrop (seated in front of an al Qaeda flag pinned to a white wall), is wearing the same clothes, and the AK-47 is positioned in the same spot.
In the videotape that was released yesterday, Hammami warns of a "bitter state of being that surrounds the emigrants of Somalia," a reference to foreign fighters or al Qaeda, and asks jihadists, clerics, and commanders to intervene with "a radical solution."
Hammami says that historically "a type of friction" exists "between the people of the global jihad and the people of the local way of thinking."
"I witnessed important parts of this history during my friction with the men of al Qaeda like Abu Talha al Sudani, Abu Abdullah al Sudani, Abu Mansour al Bayhani, Saleh al Nabhan, and Abu Fadl al Qamri," Hammami says, naming top al Qaeda leaders in East Africa who have been killed over the past several years. "The conflict that was taking place in Somalia between those men and between the emirs of [unclear] is still continuing, after some were captured and the majority martyred."
Hammami says that personal and religious differences have fueled the conflicts between the groups, and warns that the faction that seeks to wage "global jihad" may lose.
"We are afraid that this conflict might end soon in the favor of those who don't want the battalions of global jihad to take off from the Land of the Two Emigrations [Somalia] to bother the disbelievers and destroy their interests around the world. Worse than that, we are afraid that this end will come in an unfavorable way of oppression, imprisonment and domestic fighting," he says.
Although rumors of tensions between Somali Shabaab commanders and foreign al Qaeda leaders in Shabaab have been reported in the past, there is no evidence that the groups have come to blows due to the differences. Shabaab officially merged with al Qaeda in early February after years of operating closely together. Many top Shabaab leaders have been members of al Qaeda.
Hammami himself has been rumored to have been killed or imprisoned by Shabaab after releasing the March 16 video, but he released an autobiography on May 16, which was signed "Still alive and well (by May 16 2012), Omar Hammami, Somaalia." Eight days later, a picture of Hammami posing with his autobiography was released.
On the following day, May 25, Hammami released a four-part statement calling for jihadists to declare a global Islamic caliphate.
Background on Omar Hammami
Hammami has served as a military commander, propagandist, "recruitment strategist, and financial manager" for Shabaab, and is closely linked to al Qaeda, according to the US government. Hammami is on the US's list of specially designated global terrorists.
In May 2011, Hammami spoke at a public rally with other top Shabaab leaders to eulogize Osama bin Laden just 10 days after the death of the al Qaeda leader. During the rally, Hammani appeared with other top al Qaeda-linked Shabaab leaders, including Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
"We are all Osama," Hammami told the crowd as he spoke at a podium. He also said that Shabaab and al Qaeda would continue their jihad to establish a global Islamic caliphate.
"Today, we remind the Muslims that the caliphate [Islamic rule] shall soon be reborn," Hammani said while eulogizing bin Laden. "May Allah accept our dear beloved sheikh [Osama bin Laden] and cause our swords to become instruments of his avenging."
Hammami has played a crucial role in Shabaab's propaganda efforts to recruit Western fighters to join Shabaab's jihad in Somalia. In December 2011 and January 2012, Hammami appeared in photographs with a Western fighter. The Long War Journal identified the fighter as Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, an American who recruited for the terror group and left the US in October 2009 to wage jihad in Somalia. Faarax is wanted by the FBI.
Hammami was reported to have been killed in a US airstrike in March 2011, but one month later he released a nasheed, or song, that mocked the reports. In the clumsy rap, Hammami said he wanted to die in a US airstrike or special operations raid, like top al Qaeda leaders Abu Laith al Libi, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, and Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
For more information on Hammami, see LWJ reports, American Shabaab commander speaks at rally for Osama bin Laden in Somalia and US adds American, Kenyan Shabaab leaders to list of designated terrorists.
AQAP's top sharia official killed in recent drone strike - The Long War Journal
The US killed al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's senior sharia, or Islamic law, official in a drone strike in early October, according to a Yemeni journalist who is closely connected to the terror group. Sheikh Abu Zubeir 'Adil al'Abab, the sharia official, was described as AQAP's fourth-most important leader.
Al'Abab was the "fourth man in the hierarchy of Qaedat al-Jihad Organization in the Arabian Peninsula," according to a report by Abdul Razzaq al Jamal, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. A close follower of AQAP, al Jamal has traveled and embedded with the terror group, and has interviewed many AQAP senior and midlevel officials. He has also written articles that sympathized with the terror group's attempts to control the region. AQAP has not released an official martyrdom statement announcing al'Abab's death.
Al'Abab was killed in the Oct. 4 drone strike that targeted vehicles as they traveled in the Maqbala area in Shabwa province. Four AQAP fighters were reportedly killed in the strike.
According to al Jamal, al'Abab was the most important AQAP leader after Nasir al Wuhayshi, the group's emir; Said al Shihri, the deputy emir; and Qassim al Rimi, AQAP's military commander. Al'Abab is also the fourth-most important AQAP leader killed in a US drone strike after Abu Ali al Harithi, Anwar al-Awlaki, and Fahd al Quso, according to al Jamal.
As AQAP's sharia official, al'Abab provided religious justification for AQAP's operations, including suicide attacks. Additionally, al'Abab helped with AQAP's propaganda efforts. Al'Abab "contributed articles to AQAP's Arabic magazine, 'Echo of the Epics' (Sada al- Malahem), and answered questions about targeting non-Muslim civilians and Yemeni soldiers in the fourth issue of AQAP's English magazine, 'Inspire,'" according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
Five senior AQAP leaders and operatives killed in drone strikes this year
Including al'Abab, five senior AQAP operatives have been killed in the 34 strikes in Yemen so far in 2012. The US has stepped up attacks in Yemen this year in support of Yemeni military operations to dislodge the terror group from sanctuaries in the south.
The most recent strike that killed a senior AQAP leader took place on Aug. 31. Khaled Batis, a wanted AQAP operative who is said to have been the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker Limburg, was killed in that attack.
On May 6, the US killed Fahd al Quso in a drone attack in Shabwa province. Quso, who has been described as AQAP's external operations chief, was involved in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 US sailors. The US obtained the information leading to Quso from a Saudi operative who had penetrated AQAP.
The US killed Mohammed Saeed al Umda (a.k.a. Ghareeb al Taizi) in an April 22 drone strike on a convoy in the Al Samadah area of Marib province. Prior to the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001, he had attended the Al Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan. Umda served as a member of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard in Afghanistan before returning to Yemen, and was involved in the October 2002 suicide attack on the French oil tanker Limburg. He escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2006.
And on Jan. 31, US drones killed Abdul Mun'im Salim al Fatahani near the city of Lawdar in Abyan province. Fatahani was also involved in the suicide attack on the USS Cole, as well as the bombing that damaged the Limburg oil tanker in 2002. AQAP said that Fatahani had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US intelligence officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula poses a direct threat to the homeland. The latest AQAP plot against the West, involving an underwear bomb that is nearly undetectable and was to be detonated on an airliner, was foiled earlier this year. The terror group has planned multiple attacks against targets in the US. A strike in Yemen last year killed both Anwar al Awlaki, the radical, US-born cleric who plotted attacks against the US, and Samir Khan, another American who served as a senior AQAP propagandist.
Al Qaeda's affiliate Al-Shabaab "Al-Amriki" American Jihadi Omar Hammami Video ( infighting between )
Al Qaeda's affiliate Al-Shabaab "Al-Amriki" American Jihadi Omar Hammami Video ( infighting between )
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