Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Kenyan takes charge of local Al Shabaab wing



By Cyrus Ombati

Police have confirmed that an orgnaisation linked to Al Shabaab has picked a Kenyan to head its terrorist activities in the country.
Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali has direct links to the Muslim Youth Centre (MYC) mentioned in a United Nations Monitoring Group report last year as part of the Somali-based terrorist group’s network in Kenya.
The group’s nerve centre is said to be a mosque in Pumwani, Nairobi, and the photo posted on Al Shabaab’s website above their statement shows Ali at a location believed to be in the city.
Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali is the Kenyan picked by Al Shabaab to steer its attacks in the country. [Photo: File/Standard]
Consequently, police have stepped up their surveillance of the group and its activities countrywide, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told The Standard.
Top police officials also discussed the development at a meeting in Nairobi on Monday.
The United Nations said MYC is Al Shabaab’s recruitment, fundraising, and training and orientation wing in Kenya.
A lengthy statement published on the center’s blog on Wednesday stated that Ali is the leader and the development was motivating for the organisation’s followers in Majengo, Thika and Mombasa.
"There can be no doubt that Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali’s elevation to become the supreme Amiir of Kenya for Al Shabaab is recognition from our Somali brothers who have fought tirelessly against the kuffar (kaffir or "unbeliever") on the importance of the Kenyan mujahideen in Somalia," said the poorly worded statement.
Justified terrorist attacks
The statement warned that in the coming weeks and months "our Ali will lead the mujahideen (Islamic guerrilla fighters) to victory in Kenya and have the kuffar (kaffir) begging for mercy".
"No doubt in this long campaign against the kuffar, MYC will stand with its Amiir and with its beloved brothers al Shabaab. We will wage defensive jihad as we have been instructed to (do) so without mercy for the sake of our precious religion."
It justified the terrorist attacks on the activities of Kenya’s Anti-terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), arrest and detention of suspected terrorists, Kenya’s involvement in Somalia’s long running civil war and the presence of the United Nations in the country.
Reports say Ali was featured in combat fatigues giving a 50-minute lecture in a January 6 video produced by al-Kataib, Al Shabaab’s media foundation.
He referred to wars in Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Chechnya. It was the first time an al-Kataib video was dedicated solely to his message, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors communications from jihadi groups.
"If you are unable to reach the land of jihad ... then raise your sword against the enemy that is closest to you," Ali said.
Full alert
"Jihad should be now be waged inside Kenya, which is legally a war zone. You don’t have to get permission from your parents," he added.
On Monday, Iteere said the police are aware of the development but noted that Ali is not in Kenya yet. He said crack units in the police are on full alert incase he tries to sneak into the country.
"Remember I had ordered for investigations into the activities of Pumwani Riyadha Mosque Committee (PRMC) and its alleged links with the outlawed Al-Shabaab group."
Iteere formed a team in August last year which sought to find out if PRMC had any links with the terror group and take remedial action.
The mandate of the team was also to audit two bank accounts mentioned in the report, which the group was using to trans.
He said he would give a report on the findings of the investigations.
On Monday, police bosses meeting in Nairobi to discuss the growing threat of terrorism and other related crimes were asked to familiarise themselves fully with intelligence on the terror group’s activities.
Other officers who asked not to be named revealed that more agents have been sent to border points to ensure recruits of Al Shabaab do not try to cross the border with Somalia.
"Today, Al Shabaab has not only rewarded and acknowledged our Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali’s contribution to jihad; it has acknowledged the sacrifice of the Kenyan mujahideen that continue to fall in Allah’s cause in which MYC proudly is an integral part of both here in Kenya and in Somalia," read the statement on the Al Shabaab website.
It added: "We in MYC have no doubt that our Amiir Sheikh Ahmad Iman Ali will continue the unfinished work of brother Fazul in Kenya and in the region of East Africa."
Fazul, one of several most wanted terror suspects was killed last year in a clash with the Amisom troops in Mogadishu.
Ali, also known as Abdul Fatah of Kismayu, has been based in Somalia since 2009, and commands a force of 200 to 500 fighters, according to the UN report.
The report said "he now intends to conduct large-scale attacks in Kenya, and possibly elsewhere in East Africa."
Officials who have been monitoring him since the issue came out say Ali speaks Kiswahili, English, Arabic and some Somali.
He has also studied Islamic teachings extensively and has two degrees.
A post on the group’s website purporting to be from Ali complained about impunity for Kenyan army officers who have killed Muslims, set up arbitrary police detentions and renditions — complaints also voiced by Kenyan and international human rights groups.
When he formed a team to investigate the issue, Iteere was reacting to the UN report that said two Kenyan politicians had contributed funds to a group allied to Al-Shabaab.
The report prepared for the UN Security Council exposed in great detail activities of the terrorist group and its links with governments, businesses and individuals across the region. It alleged that Tourism Minister Najib Balala attended a fundraiser in aid of the mosque in September 2009, and donated Sh200,000, which was wired to an account operated by the terrorist outfit that controls huge parts of Somalia.
However, the report said there was no evidence that Balala knew the money would finance Al Shabaab’s activities, and the minister has since strongly denied having any links with the terror group. The minister’s donation was deposited into the PRMC’s Development Steering Committee’s account at Habib Bank, an account that was at that time overseen by Ali.
Politicians’ donations
"The Monitoring Group has received credible information indicating that the funds deposited into this and other accounts (PRMC Gulf African Bank) controlled by ‘Amiir’ Ahmad Iman were used at least in part to finance his passage to and upkeep in, Somalia in late 2009," said the report.
It added that MP Amina Abdalla also donated Sh500,000 towards the project, but was not aware that the money would be used to fund Al-Shabaab’s activities. She too has since denied any links to the group.
Iteere who said at the time he was satisfied the two politicians made the donations in good faith, believing that they were assisting PRMC to further legitimate religious activities, cleared both Balala and Abdalla.

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