The Somali militant group al Shabaab yesterday warned African leaders meeting in Kampala against continuing with their "hostile" policy towards war-ravaged Somalia. A militant leader allied to the group, Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal, said those who would ignore the warning would "cry like they did in Kampala", in reference to the twin bomb attacks that killed over 70 people in the Ugandan capital earlier this month. Al Shabaabs warning coincided with the start of the AU Heads of State Summit, which is expected to discuss the long-running conflict in Somalia and its potential to spilling over the countrys borders. Uganda tightened security ahead of the AU Summit after Al Shabaab urged people in Mogadishu to participate in a jihad (holy war) against the countrys "enemies".
Sheikh Bilal told a news conference in Mogadishu that African leaders meeting in Kampala should not foment chaos by taking a "wrong approach". He added that the AU had worsened the situation by endorsing what he said was Ethiopias occupation of Somalia, and accused the continental body of presiding over the "massacre" of innocent Somalis by Ethiopia and later Ugandan and Burundian troops operating under the auspices of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
"Amisom peacekeepers are shelling the Somali people day and night," said Sheikh Bilal adding: "They are acting with the express approval of the African Union." He said AU leaders should draw lessons from the deadly blasts that rocked Kampala a fortnight ago. "The twin explosions showed that the Somali youth more than capable of avenging for their killing of their brothers and sisters in Mogadishu," Sheikh Bilal said.
He warned Guinea, Djibouti and other countries that had pledged to assist the beleaguered transitional government in Mogadishu to think twice before sending troops to Somalia. "This is an American project, implemented through the AU," Sheikh Bilal said. "Our reaction will make people in other African capitals cry like those in Kampala."
Meanwhile, the top al Shabaab official in southern Mogadishu urged residents of the shattered capital to join the jihad against the government and foreign troops. Sheikh Mohamed Abu Abdallah said the group had set up several registration centres, and urged people to contribute their wealth and lives to the holy war against the "puppet government" and Amisom peacekeepers. "We ask everybody to get ready and participate in the jihad, and strongly warn against any hesitation...this is a war that must be won," he said.
US Attorney General Eric Holder was scheduled to address the summit in Kampala yesterday, and was expected to address the July 11 suicide bomb attacks carried out by al Shabaab rebels.
| "Now remember, homies, these are attacks by radical racists, not radical |