January 14, 2013 | Quote
Al-Shabab Jihadist More Whiner Than Martyr
Since becoming the most prominent foreign fighter in the Somali armed Islamist group Al-Shabab, former Toronto pizza deliveryman Omar Hammami has turned into a remarkably whiny jihadist.
Over the past week, Hammami has issued long lists of complaints about the “top dogs” of Al-Shabab, accusing them of behaving “like Hitler,” confiscating his car and keeping all the best “war booty” for themselves.
He blasted Al-Shabab for its strategic blunders and for only striving to take over Somalia rather than to impose radical Islam on the world through a global jihad. “You must come to know some of the harsh realities,” he wrote.
The Alabama-born 28-year-old left Toronto in 2005 and made his way through Cairo to join the Somali jihad. “We are all Osama,” he declared in one of his many self-aggrandizing online videos. But his holy war now appears to be over.
His recent statements claim Al-Shabab has sidelined him, tried to have him killed and purged other foreign volunteers who had travelled to the long-suffering country to fight. He said Al-Shabab is afraid he will form a splinter group.
“None of us came here to seek positions or marriage. Instead, we all came with the intention of martyrdom,” he wrote in a statement posted to a file-serving website and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t find the opportunity we expected to participate in the global jihad, or even to participate in the development of jihad in Somalia.”
For its part, Al-Shabab let Hammami have it on Twitter last month, lamenting his “narcissistic pursuit of fame” and “childish petulance.” It said that notwithstanding his portrayal as a commander, he “does not hold any position of authority” in the group.
The war of words points to a divide between the leadership of Al-Shabab — which wants to impose its brutal version of Islamic law on Somalis — and the hundreds of foreign extremists who have converged in the country, convinced they are on a mission from God to fight infidels until the world submits to their religious system.
But some analysts believe the rift is overblown, arguing that while Al-Shabab has clearly had enough of Hammami’s grandstanding, it continues to align itself with al-Qaeda and deploy foreign volunteers in the field.
“Other than Hammami’s statements, there is no credible evidence of other foreign fighters having had problems with Shabab’s leaders,” The Long War Journal website wrote, adding that “foreigners continue to play a significant role in Shabab’s command structure.”
Either way, Al-Shabab has been significantly weakened after being pushed out of its strongholds by Somali, Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union troops, not to mention the United States, which has launched missile strikes on key commanders.