Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Briefing the media at Bakara market, the largest trading centre in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, the Al-Shabaab governor in the Somali capital, asked for public support in face of possible air attacks.
“We are asking for public support, reckoning the possibility that war planes join the conflict in Mogadishu,” said Sheikh Hussein without elaborating where the planes would come from. “We want the people in Banadir region (Mogadishu and surrounding areas) to help us,” remarked the sheikh.
The remarks are coming at a time Amisom peacekeepers are expecting a boost in terms of more soldiers and better logistics.
Meanwhile, details are emerging that Al-Shabaab and its war partner, Hizbu Islam, are still ironing out differences on how to merge the two radical Islamist movements.
Sources close to a meeting between the two sides, indicates that Al-Shabaab delegates keep on demanding that the two sides unite under its brand name: Harakatu Al-Shabaab Al-Mujaahideen (The movement of the youth jihadists).
Some Hizbu Islam participants were enthusiastic about adoption of Al-Shabaab name.
However, other Hizbu Islam delegates reportedly rejected the choice of Al-Shabaab name. Instead, they proposed that both Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam names are dropped and taken up a new name.
On Tuesday, the leader of Hizbu Islam and Islamist Hardliner, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, urged all Islamists to unite.
Source: Daily Nation