Ahmed Abdi Godane: the new 'Mad Mullah’ bent on jihad

[Khalid Ali]

Ahmed Abdi Godane: the new 'Mad Mullah’ bent on jihad
Colin Freeman profiles Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of the al-Shabaab Islamist movement believed to be behind last week's Nairobi mall attack
Ahmed Abdi Godane
Ahmed Abdi Godane, the leader of Somalia’s al-Shabaab Islamist movement
Colin Freeman

By Colin Freeman

10:00PM BST 28 Sep 2013

WITH his background in accountancy and enthusiasm for poetry, Sheikh Ahmed Abdi Godane is an unlikely candidate to be Africa’s most feared militant leader.

But with the Nairobi shopping mall atrocity, the bookish 36-year-old leader of Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamist movement has achieved a long-running ambition to join the very top tier of global terrorism.

Last Wednesday, Godane promised more violence if Kenya refused to withdraw its forces from neighbouring Somalia, where they have been fighting al-Shabaab in its southern heartlands.

“You cannot withstand a war of attrition inside your own country,” he said in an audio message posted on a website linked to al-Shabaab. “So withdraw all your forces, or be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country.”

Last week’s slaughter confirms what many in the region have long feared: that Godane, who has imposed a Taliban-style regime in much of war-torn Somalia, would one day begin exporting his brand of Islamist violence to the wider world.
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But his fondness for venting his hatred of the West through poetry − a mode of expression that has a long political tradition in Somalia − also makes him the direct descendant of another insurgent figure from Somali history, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, the so-called “Mad Mullah” who waged war against the British colonial presence during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, the so-called “Mad Mullah” (ALAMY)

Famous for an attack that killed 36 British troops in 1913, the Mullah was also notorious for writing open letters to the British public, in which he would boast: “I like war, but you do not.”

A century later he is still remembered in Somalia as a classic Muslim resistance fighter, and during the US occupation of Mogadishu in 1993, which culminated in the Black Hawk Down massacre of US troops, resistance leaflets quoted verses from a mocking poem the Mullah wrote about a British commander he killed, called simply “The Death of Richard Corfield”.

It is no surprise that Godane, whose bombastic internet broadcasts are the modern-day equivalent, is understood to consider the Mullah a spiritual hero.

Born in what is now the semi-independent republic of Somaliland, Godane was considered a child prodigy, excelling at Islamic school and winning scholarships to study in Sudan and Pakistan.

As an adult he became an accountant for an airline, but then joined al Itihad al Islamiya, a now-defunct militant group, and went to Afghanistan to fight.

On his return, he and his followers splintered from Itihad’s leadership when it mooted the idea of peaceful politics after September 11, producing the nucleus of what would go on to become al-Shabaab today.

Their first taste of foreign blood was a decade ago, when the same splinter group was responsible for a string of murders of Western aid workers, including Richard and Enid Eyeington, a British couple who ran a popular school in Somaliland.

He has since manoeuvred to become al-Shabaab’s overall commander, although like Mullah Omar, the one-eyed ruler of the Taliban, he is somewhat reclusive − mindful, it seems, of the fate of his comrade Adan Hashi Ayro, who was killed by a US missile strike in 2008.

Under his leadership, during which more moderate rivals have been either killed or sidelined, al-Shabaab has become one of the most brutal militant groups in the world, with stonings and amputations for anyone who defies Godane’s edicts banning music, dancing and even watching football.

It has also advertised Somalia as a base from which to wage global jihad, with Godane using his background in finance and airlines to help recruit hundreds of foreign fighters into the group’s ranks.

However, even its own volunteers faced the group’s wrath if they tried to leave, according to two disaffected ex-Shabaab fighters interviewed for a Panorama documentary to be broadcast on BBC One on Monday night.

The pair, both teenagers from neighbouring Kenya, told how they were horrified to discover that despite

al-Shabaab’s professed moral piety, its foot soldiers raped and pillaged as much as any other Somali militia. One claimed he saw children as young as five being trained in how to wear suicide vests.

Both teenagers eventually escaped, but hundreds of other volunteers from around the world − including Somalis from Britain − are thought still to be swelling Godane’s ranks.

Panorama’s Terror in Nairobi will be shown on Monday at 8.30pm on BBC One.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... jihad.html

[Kabriid]

The question is will people glorify this movement hundred years from now like they do with the Dervish?



Quraan iyo xadiisna wuu u mariyey, gabayna wuu ugu tuuray.

[SecretAgent]

Nobody saw mad mullah,mullah omar,now godane dis ppl don't exist its fake loool thy said mullah omar has 1 eye n lives in caves wtf

[Khalid Ali]

The question is will people glorify this movement hundred years from now like they do with the Dervish?



Quraan iyo xadiisna wuu u mariyey, gabayna wuu ugu tuuray.

I doubt it but the 2 movements are identical

Alshabaab

Takfiri Jihadist
Fight the unbelievers till they submit and Kill also their supporters if they are Muslims
Fight the Foreign Invaders Uganda Kenya Ethiopia Djibouti Nigeria Siere leone sponsored by the west
Alshabaab God father and spiritual leader was Osama Bin laden and now its the Egyptian Ayman Al zawihiri
You are either with Alshabaab or you are an infidel.
We accept foreign Jihadist we make no distinction between the Muslims
Alshabaab wants to establish an islamic state and enforce Sharia law.
The leader of Alshabaab loves Poetry and takes orders from tora bora.
Alshabaab members are only taught Surah al Anfal Surah Tauba and parts of Surah Baqara.
Once you join Alshabaab u cant leave the movement or you die.


The dervishes
Takfiri Jihadist
Fight the unbelievers till they submit and kill also their supporters if they are Muslims, we make no distinction between Muslims and Non Muslims
Fighting the British the Italians the Abyssinians and their supporters.
The dervishes their god father was Muhammad ibn salah the Arab Sheikh he was their top leader
You are either Darawiish al Saalixi or you are a Kafir and we have the right to take your stock
We accept Foreign Jihadist , there were significant sunusi sudani Fighters in the dervish movement
Dervish state already enforced sharia in the areas they ruled
The leader of the Dervishes loved poetry and he used to take orders from the Arab Bedouins in Arabia
The dervish leaders used to taught their followers only the Jihad verses of the Quran
Once you try to leave the dervishes u are either Killed or your family members are poisoned and killed

[Kabriid]

The question is will people glorify this movement hundred years from now like they do with the Dervish?



Quraan iyo xadiisna wuu u mariyey, gabayna wuu ugu tuuray.

I doubt it but the 2 movements are identical

Alshabaab

Takfiri Jihadist
Fight the unbelievers till they submit and Kill also their supporters if they are Muslims
Fight the Foreign Invaders Uganda Kenya Ethiopia Djibouti Nigeria Siere leone sponsored by the west
Alshabaab God father and spiritual leader was Osama Bin laden and now its the Egyptian Ayman Al zawihiri
You are either with Alshabaab or you are an infidel.
We accept foreign Jihadist we make no distinction between the Muslims
Alshabaab wants to establish an islamic state and enforce Sharia law.
The leader of Alshabaab loves Poetry and takes orders from tora bora.
Alshabaab members are only taught Surah al Anfal Surah Tauba and parts of Surah Baqara.
Once you join Alshabaab u cant leave the movement or you die.


The dervishes
Takfiri Jihadist
Fight the unbelievers till they submit and kill also their supporters if they are Muslims, we make no distinction between Muslims and Non Muslims
Fighting the British the Italians the Abyssinians and their supporters.
The dervishes their god father was Muhammad ibn salah the Arab Sheikh he was their top leader
You are either Darawiish al Saalixi or you are a Kafir and we have the right to take your stock
We accept Foreign Jihadist , there were significant sunusi sudani Fighters in the dervish movement
Dervish state already enforced sharia in the areas they ruled
The leader of the Dervishes loved poetry and he used to take orders from the Arab Bedouins in Arabia
The dervish leaders used to taught their followers only the Jihad verses of the Quran
Once you try to leave the dervishes u are either Killed or your family members are poisoned and killed

Yet we have Somalis preaching that the dervish was a nationalist movement. The same people opposing Godane are praising his predecessor Mad Mullah even using some of the takfiri rhetoric when they recount the events that took place in British Somaliland.

[Khalid Ali]

The dervishes were not a nationalistic group there were sudani sunuusi groups supporting it foreign fighters

And i quote the Mad mullahs poem he wanted to fly the dervish flag in Kenya.

Hadaan waayay calan leey nashiro tan iyo Nairobi,
Miyaan waayay maamuus janniyo daalac iyo naasil,
Hadaan waayay ciidoon naqliyo inaan nugaal daaqo,
Miyaan waayey neef an xarmada naalo ugu fuulo,
Hadaan waayay ruux iga naxa oo nasabad sheegta,
Miyaan waayay naxariis alle iyo Nebiga jaahisa


This man wanted to wave and raise the dervish flag in Nairobi

[CaliBurco]

Shabaab wants to do what's best for the Somali people.

[Kabriid]

The dervishes were not a nationalistic group there were sudani sunuusi groups supporting it foreign fighters

And i quote the Mad mullahs poem he wanted to fly the dervish flag in Kenya.

Hadaan waayay calan leey nashiro tan iyo Nairobi,
Miyaan waayay maamuus janniyo daalac iyo naasil,
Hadaan waayay ciidoon naqliyo inaan nugaal daaqo,
Miyaan waayey neef an xarmada naalo ugu fuulo,
Hadaan waayay ruux iga naxa oo nasabad sheegta,
Miyaan waayay naxariis alle iyo Nebiga jaahisa


This man wanted to wave and raise the dervish flag in Nairobi

Hadana Somalida lagama dhaadhicin karo.