Al-Shabab spokesperson:
• threatens government employees and Turkish nationals
• denies al-Shabab has been ‘pushed out’ of many towns
• questions Kenya’s claims that Westgate Mall attackers are dead
An al-Shabab spokesperson has dismissed hopes that the December appointment of Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed as the new prime minister of Somalia would lead to negotiations between the government and the al-Qaeda-linked group.
In an exclusive interview with al-Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed, al-Shabab’s Sheikh Ali Dheere said, “The people we are fighting with is because of ideology. They want to colonise us. They want to erase our religion, our people and our land. Those people bring a new face every time. Every new person that comes into office works for them. So for that reason, they are no different to us. Whomever the Christians bring, no matter their name or background, we will not negotiate with them because they have no decision-making powers. They have no powers to refuse or accept anything. What you lose by force you return by force. We will not negotiate with anyone. The country is ours.”
al-Shabab was pushed out of Mogadishu in mid-2011 but in the last few weeks has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bomb attacks, as well as Friday’s unsuccessful attack on the presidential compound.
When challenged about the civilian casualties involved, Dheere said, “Anyone who works for the apostate government, no matter where and at what level, they are supporting the apostates and the Christians who sent them. Our stand is clear is on such people. We will fight them and kill them anywhere we see them. Anyone who supports the Christians, either through the pen or by carrying a weapon, they are the same to us and we will kill them… We don’t kill civilians who don’t work for the apostate government. We protect them. We do not harm them.”
Dheere said al-Shabab is also targeting Turkish nationals working in Somalia. “We want to tell the Turkish people their government is an enemy to the existence of the people, the country and the religion of the people of Somalia… Them building roads, schools and hospitals is similar to a man who wants to slaughter a goat. If he feeds that goat, is it any good to that goat? He is going to slaughter it anyways. The schools they have built, they teach our Somali children bad behavior; they teach them music; they teach them everything that is bad for them.
“The biggest enemy of the Muslim people is NATO and Turkey is part of NATO. NATO is a union of Christians. They are the number one supporters of that union. NATO uses Turkey as the hammer that’s used to crush Muslims. They first came into the country saying they are here to help the people. They then start saying there is military agreement between them and the apostates and AMISOM. They train the intelligence services. They have taken off the shirt they were wearing when they came in and put on another one. Anywhere we see Turkish people, they are no different to us than the Americans, the British and AMISOM.”
According to Dheere, al-Shabab is fighting for the Muslims who live in Mogadishu. “They are the people whom we want to free from the enemy. We take great care in protecting them. We don’t just go and blow a place up or fire bullets aimlessly. There is a lot of intelligence before an operation. We only attack a place when we are sure the people in there are the apostates, the Christians and those that support them.”
He admitted there may be Muslim casualties. “We pray for that Muslim person and the martyr who carried out the operation to go to paradise. Also we have warned the Muslim people not to go close to apostate bases and where the Christians are. Most of the population has heeded our warning.”
He denied that al-Shabab has been pushed out of many towns in Somalia. “The towns you mentioned that al-Shabab left, we did not leave because of a military defeat. If an army is defeated, their weapons are seized, their soldiers are killed, their deaths publicized. None of that happened. That shows al-Shabab left those towns on their own accord. al-Shabab leaving those towns only shows a change of tactics. al-Shabab will not be finished. Somalia belongs to al-Shabab. The land and the people are ours. We will not leave our land because of an enemy. We hope to be back in those towns as soon as possible.”
The Kenyan government has claimed that the Westgate Mall attackers are dead, which Dheere questioned. “All that Kenya said, nothing is believable. Nothing of what they said is true. Look at how many times they went back on what they said. They first said there were 18 individuals in the mall. Then they said they were 15. Another time they said they were 4. Another time they said a woman was leading them. They said they were all dead. Another time they said they were alive. Even when people could hear the bullets, they were saying the fighting was over. That shows what they say has no basis. It is not something anyone can believe. In our own time we will say whether the men are alive or not. For the individuals involved and for military reasons we will not disclose now.”
To watch the interview, visit http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/02/somalia-al-shabab-group-vows-comeback-20142248557425260.html.
Regards
Kevin Kriedemann & Joy Sapieka
Publicists: Africa
AL JAZEERA MEDIA NETWORK
darmiir laawayaal walee somalia maanta god madoow bay ku sii dhacaysaa dadkay u bahan tahayna waa somalida my allah safe somalia from harm walaahi i am from burco but i am ready to die for somalia
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk waar tani waykasii daraysaa.
THE THREATS OF ALSHABAB ARE PRETTY SCARY.
CHEERS.
get him get him he is a murderer. M.Rage kills innocent people on both sides !!
He is not a believing moslem……he is a terrorist and he abuses little children for his dirty war against
innocent people. Hope that the americans get him soon with a drone. Sorry, but if there is one of those
devils left it will continue spreading blood and blood again!!! It is hard to see what happens under this
most disgusting group of the world !!!! somalia must get rid of al shabaab
@misslovely
Sheffield miyaad ka daashay?
Pretty scary indeed and they must be delusional individuals who believe strange things!.
one must ask is al shabab worst then amisom? i think not. look ethiopia and kenya is killing somalis in alarming rate. there was a reason news that somali goverment soldiers are wayyy worse then al shabab. all the places that goverment soldiers held is a hell for ordinary somalis. they loote and kill people where al shabab's edminister places are way more save then where somali goverment soldiers and amison govern. if ethiopia is better choice then im out.
It is all about FUND acquisition on both sides of the fence.
The Fake-Government in suits Vs Shabab
Whether their Fund-Proposal is aimed at Western-Governments and agencies or the Arab-League. Both camps work in a symbiotic relationship. It is in both camp's interest to sustain a tug of war with zero sum gain to the security situation.
Un-aid agencies, AU-agencies and Amisom all profit from the counter balance of the forces at conflict.
The only ones who suffer are the Somali civilians while both Fake-government and Shabab control food-aid and live comfortably sucking on coconuts with straws. When it comes to crimes against the civilians they are equally abused by all camps the Fake-government militia, Amisom, shabab, Foreign drones etc all harm innocent civilians.
NOW if you remove all of the them i don't care how you do it… Fake-government, Shabab, AU and UN military and their equipment… The Civilians will live a happier live, they do not need to be lead 70% of the population if not more are nomads able to live of the land if left in peace.
Otherwise simply arm every Civilians so they can defend themselves against all these predators!!!
The civilians at the moment have no fighting chance against all these exploitative forces…
Al Shabab = Arab lackey Somali government=Aid Money Lackey and the Somali people are stuck between two blood su ckers
No one wants to live in a theocracy and no one wants to live in a corrupt nation but those are the only two choices given to the folks in Somalia proper.
One side is saying let me control every ascept of your life based on some arab bs and the other is saying let me rob you and the country blind while you starve. Both are equally disgusting