A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa.
“To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves,” Sa’id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. “Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti.”
Shihri warns Somali militants against a conspiracy led by “the crusaders, the Jews and traitor Arab rulers,” to put an end to the Muslim extremists’ progress in Somalia.
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It was the first clear sign since the U.S. and French navies thwarted recent pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden that al Qaeda is trying to take advantage of anti-Western sentiment, and a ready supply of well-armed young men with access to boats and maritime skills, in the restive country.
Al Qaeda does have links to Islamic extremist groups operating in Somalia but, thus far, piracy and al Qaeda’s brand of terrorism have remained largely separate. The pirates in the Gulf of Aden have always sought ransom payments or loot — they have not been motivated by Islamic fundamentalism.
Barry Zell
Though there has not been viable proof that the pirates are connected to AQ, I just have a sense the opposite applies. Al Shabab is connected to AQ and this particular jihad org is active in the location where the pirates operate. I think if there were intelligence on the ground and on the inside of both Al Shabab and the pirates operations, a link would easily be detected between the three with a discovery that many of the pirates are Al Shabab members or sympathizers. And that AQ is getting a cut and being funded by the pirate attacks via the ransoms they collect by various individual companies or the shipping magnates/industry itself. And that AQ plays a part in organizing the pirates and their attacks
Not easy to make the connection at this point in time, but I sense it wont be long before the connections are made or AQ takes credit for pirate attacks in one way or another. Let’s give it a bit of time and see what transpires in the next month or two.
BZ