Meet Abu Mansour, the man described as an American Islamist fighting in Somalia

Oct 11, 2007

Al-Jazeera recently introduced its viewers to someone it described as a U.S. citizen who is fighting alongside the militant Islamists in Somalia. During a recent story, the reporter said that "Abu Mansour the American" is a fighter who trains other members of the Islamic Courts Union to wage war on the military personnel -- including Americans -- they encounter in the area.

Here's a translation produced by MEMRI, a nonprofit group that monitors foreign-language media and posts translations or clips on its website.

Reporter: The people here are not only Somalis. Among them is this American, who says that he heard the call for the Somali jihad when he was away from America.

Abu Mansour the American: Oh Muslims of America, take into consideration the situation in Somalia. After 15 years of chaos, and oppressive rule by the American-backed warlords, your brothers stood up and established peace and justice in this land.

Reporter: Abu Mansour is not only a fighter, but also the military instructor of the Islamic Courts Union fighters. He is now attempting to blow up a large bomb during training. This time, it is not done in the framework of an attack. He has waited until sunset, after getting everything ready.

You can listen to the man who goes by Abu Mansour if you skip to 5 minutes, 40 seconds on this clip .

We can't vouch for the accuracy of the non-English portion of the MEMRI report. Some critics have complained in the past about the lack of impartiality in the group's translations.

Source: USA Today