An Al-Shabab Leader Says Hammami is Alive

Shaikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, one of the leaders of Al-Shabab, confirmed that the American jihadist, Omar Hammami, is still alive.

In an interview with Somali Channel TV on May 16, Aweys stated that Hammami was wounded and on the run. He lashed out at an unnamed senior Al-Shabab leader for going after the American fighter whom Aweys said had done nothing wrong “but expressed his [critical] views.”

Last March, 2012, Hammami appeared on the internet claiming that Al-Shabab militants were trying to kill him because he disagreed with the group regarding the application of sharia, strategy, and the course of jihad in Somalia.

The Al-Shabab leaders were not pleased with Hammami’s public rants. After several months of tolerating what they called his “childish petulance,” the group lashed out at him and accused him of seeking fame at the expense of his fellow jihadists.

Aweys criticized the unnamed leader of Al-Shabab for following the tactics and teachings of Machiavelli instead of the Prophet Mohamed. He said, “Mistakes have been made in the movement by certain individual leaders who do not want to consult with others.”

Aweys’ statement is the first by a high-ranking Al-Shabab figure since April 25 when an Al-Shabab assassin tried to kill Hammami. Aweys also confirmed that some Al-Shabab leaders have complained to Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the Al-Qaeda supreme leader, about the wrong course of jihad in Somalia.

In 2001, Aweys was added to the United States government’s list of terrorists.  He was the former leader of the Union of Islamic Courts which controlled Mogadishu in 2006. In 2009, he formed Hizbul Islam to fight against the African Union forces (AMISOM) and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government. A year later, Aweys and his group formally joined Al-Shabab.