Signs of Life (Maybe) from Omar Hammami

Omar Hammami in a video posted online this morning.

A previously unseen video from Alabama-born jihadist Omar Hammami was posted to YouTube early this morning.

In the video, titled "An Urgent Message," Hammami speaks for three minutes in Arabic. He appears to be sitting in the same room and wearing the same clothes as he was in the last video he posted online from Somalia nearly seven months ago.

Update: Hammami alive, speaks with Current TV

According to Somali journalists, the video appears to expand on the plea for help Hammami posted in that video, which indicated Al Shabab wanted to kill him. According to their translations, the newly released video is addressed to Al Qaeda and senior jihadists to inform them that foreign fighters in Somalia are experiencing problems with Al Shabab. He also said Shabab is not ready to carry out jihad on an international level. Hammami also asks for help in leaving Somalia, they said.

The video's caption reads "Waiting around to see how things develop. Stay tuned!" The video was also posted without further comment on a Twitter account used by an individual claiming to be Hammami's "PR rep."

Hammami has not been heard from since May, when he abruptly stopped communicating due to African Union forces fighting the Al Qaeda-linked militia Al Shabab in his vicinity. His last direct communication was with Christof Putzel of CurrentTV. His "PR rep" stopped emailing me at the same time.

In an interview with me for Foreign Policy in May, Hammami's "PR rep" expanded on the American jihadist's complaints about al Shabaab and said the Somali militia had not yet killed Hammami because it was "too messy politically."

"Things can't be done in the open, and he hasn't given them any opportunities to create an 'accident'," he said. The interview took place around the time Hammami posted "part 1" of his text autobiography and an audio lecture on the political priorities of jihadist movements, which he believed was partially responsible for his troubles.
In early October, the Washington Post ran a story suggesting Hammami was "on the run," but the assertion was weakly sourced.

This post has been updated.

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

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Labels: Abu-Mansour-Al-Amriki, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, Jihad-Joe, Omar-Hammami, Somalia

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Oops, My Facebook Friend Just Joined AQ

Some Facebook friends of Al Qaeda member Cabdulaahi Faarax (click for larger image)

Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax has a lot of friends on Facebook. More than 400 in fact. So what will those friends -- many of whom live in the United States -- do now that Al Shabab, the Somali militant organization to which Faarax belongs -- has officially merged with Al Qaeda?

It's not like they shouldn't have known already. Al Shabab is, after all, a designated terrorist entity and dozens of Americans have been indicted for various activities on Shabab's behalf. And the organization's leaders already publicly swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and after him, Ayman Al Zawahiri.

But for all that the brand name has suffered, there is still something special about being a member of "Al Qaeda." And thus, something special about being Facebook friends with an official, no-bones-about-it Al Qaeda member.

Especially if you are, say, one of Faarax's 47 friends living in Minneapolis who list their schools or employers on their Facebook pages, names like Wells Fargo Insurance, IBI Carrier LLC, afrodeli.com, Hennepin County Library, HTI Co., Sheridan College, Country Financial, Manchester Unlimited, Normandale Community College, St. Mary's University, Minnesota State, Edison Senior High School, or Roosevelt Senior High School.

And those are just in Minneapolis.

If employers are scouring Facebook pages for pictures of employees doing beer bongs during long-ago college days, it makes you wonder what they would think of an employee who is friends with an Al Qaeda member.

Not to mention companies -- like Facebook and Twitter -- that are currently providing a platform for these newly minted Al Qaeda members. Time to do some weeding, folks.

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, American-Al-Qaeda, American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Cabdulaahi-Ahmed-Faarax, Somalia

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Al Shabab's Recruiting Pipeline From Minnesota To Somalia Detailed In New Filing

A trial brief filed this week in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota for accused Al Shabab collaborator Omer Adbi Mohamed revealed new details about just how Al Shabab's recruitment practices work in Minneapolis.

I've hacked the file up into a highly condensed excerpt below, or you can read the whole document. Journalists, I edited what's below heavily so quote the document proper if you are quoting.

Starting in or about September 2007, the defendant and his conspirators formed a secretive plan in which ethnic Somali men residing in Minneapolis would return to Somalia to conduct jihad alongside Islamic extremists against the Ethiopian military present in Somalia to assist the internationally-supported Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (“TFG”).

In or about September 2007, the defendant Omer Abdi Mohamed and his conspirators, to include Khalid Abshir (“Abshir”), Dahir Gure (“Gure”), Ahmed Ali Omar (“Omar”), and Shirwa Ahmed (“Shirwa Ahmed”) ... began to raise funds and planned to join Abshir’s relative in Somalia, a senior member of al Shabaab.

Throughout the fall of 2007, the defendant and his conspirators secretly began to mobilize groups of men to depart for Somalia. The group met at mosques, restaurants, and private restaurants to plan the logistics of the trip. ... The group also conferred with one man who had recently returned from Somalia and stated that the men would engage in a “good jihad.”

To raise money, the group solicited donations from unsuspecting members of the Somali community under false pretenses. The defendant and his conspirators went to local malls and apartment buildings to ask for money, claiming it would be used to build a mosque or to assist with relief efforts in Somalia. In fact, the money was to pay for the airfare and travel expenses of the group of men to join in the conspiracy.

They challenged members of the conspiracy who had planned to travel, questioning their commitment, dedication, and knowledge of both the religion and events in Somalia, before ultimately assisting them with the trip.

When the time came to buy tickets, the defendant relied on a contact he had at Amana Travel to assist with booking the tickets. The defendant contacted Amana Travel, accompanied men to the travel agency, and paid for the tickets. The defendant and his conspirators acquired and provided to [local recruit Kamal] Hassan a fraudulent itinerary reflecting that Hassan would be traveling to Saudi Arabia for purpose of misleading Hassan’s family about his destination.

[S]even men who had left from Minneapolis in the fall of 2007 reunited at a safe-house in Southern Somalia. They were provided weapons training and met with senior leaders of al Shabaab. At a different safe-house, the men from Minneapolis, along with other members of al Shabaab, were issued AK-47s and ammunition.

When they arrived at the camp, the men were divided into groups and began to construct the camp. Under the supervision of the leaders, they began cutting down trees and clearing brush. Salah Ahmed and Isse left the camp after several weeks and began making their way back to the United States. Shirwa Ahmed also left the camp to assist a friend, but was persuaded to return to the camp by his conspirators in Somalia.

The remaining men from Minneapolis along with other recruits were provided weapons training, religious instruction and anti-Western propaganda. The camp received visits from senior members of al Shabaab. An al Shabaab “media” crew arrived to film a propaganda video that depicted recruits training and featured an English-language recruiting appeal made by a man from Minneapolis. Robow and Nabhan appear in the video.

In mid-July 2008, after graduating from the training camp, the men from Minneapolis were assigned to a group of foreign fighters and dispatched to conduct an ambush of Ethiopian troops traveling along a road in Somalia. The preparations and ambush were filmed by a member of the conspiracy and produced as an al Shabaab propaganda video. Senior members of al Shabaab narrate the video and a man from Minneapolis makes a speech to the camera in which he encourages more men to join them in Somalia.

[O]n October 29, 2008, five coordinated vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (“IED”) exploded in the Somali territories of Puntland and Somaliland. The bombings resulted in the death of the suicide bombers, including [Minneapolis recruit] Shirwa Ahmed, as well as approximately 22 persons.

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam.

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Labels: Al-Shabab, American-Jihadists, Jihad-Joe, Omar-Hammami, Omer-Abdi-Mohamed, Somalia

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

What Zach Did...

Zach Chesser pleaded guilty this week to a variety of charges and also signed a cooperation deal, which bodes poorly for his friends at Revolution Muslim, who can likely expect to see Zach's smiling face in court one day soon.

The specific charges that Zach pleaded to are detailed in the document below. Anyone studying the online jihad will find this to be a fascinating document with a fairly detailed description of his online activities.

The charges which will form the basis for Zach's likely 20-year prison sentence include the threats against South Park and, notably, his posting to the Al-Ansar forum the names and contact information of several people who signed up for the "Everybody Draw Mohammed" Facebook page. The personally identifying information posted to the Al Qaeda-linked Web forum were "just a suggestion," Zach wrote.

Read the full criminal complaint which is incorporated into Chesser's guilty plea

Labels: Abu-Talha-Al-Amreeki, Al-Shabab, Anwar-Awlaki, INTELFILES, Somalia, South-Park, Zach-Chesser

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Abu Talha al-Amrikee aka Zachary Chesser Arrested, South Park Creators Can Rest Easy

Aficionados of this site and your finer American Jihadist propaganda will be pleased to hear that Abu Talha al-Amrikee, aka Zach Chesser, has been arrested and charged with material support for terrorism after being intercepted on his way to Somalia to join Al Shabab.

Chesser (who reads this site) was bringing his baby boy along for the ride as "cover," and -- fellow jihobbyists take note -- it looks like he is spilling his guts to the FBI.

Chesser was most notorious for threatening the creators of South Park in respect to their "likely" demise should they show an image of the Prophet Mohammed. For more of Zach's greatest hits, see the links below.

Interview with Abu Talha posted on Al Maktaba blog

Counter-counter-counter terrorism: The writings of Abu Talha

South Park Threats

More South Park Threats

Al Qaeda North America on Twitter?

Labels: Abu-Talha-Al-Amreeki, Al-Shabab, American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Revolution-Muslim, Somalia, Zach-Chesser

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Recruitment of Americans to Fight in Somalia

The new issue of CTR Vantage has a package of stories about recruitment of Westerners (and Americans specifically) to fight on behalf of Al Shabbab in Somalia. This is a very important topic; Somalia is shaping up to be an extremely important battlefield in the war against Al Qaeda.

CTR Vantage: Al Shabbab's Recruiting Efforts in the West

Labels: American-Jihadists, Daniel-Maldonado, Somalia

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink