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Stewart Bell
Ottawa, Canada, December 5, 2009 – The Somali militant group Al-Shabaab
has been arming and training pirates in exchange for a share of their
spoils, says a newly released Canadian intelligence document.
Al-Shabaab has formed a "relationship of convenience" with one of the
two main pirate networks operating off the Horn of Africa, the "Top
Secret" intelligence assessment says.
The report describes an "Islamist extremism-piracy nexus" that involves
Al-Shabaab providing "weapons, combat training and local protection" to
the Mudug pirates of southern Somalia.
In return, "elements of Al-Shabaab continue to receive portions of the
spoils from successful hijackings either in cash or seized weapons and
materiel," it says.
Pirate attacks in the region have soared over the past two years but in
addition to threatening international shipping, they are also apparently
financing the Somali extremist group at the centre of several major
North American counter-terrorism investigations.
The FBI is probing at least 20 Somali-Americans who have left
Minneapolis to join Al-Shabaab, and the RCMP and Canadian Security
Intelligence Service are investigating whether up to six
Somali-Canadians who left Toronto in recent weeks were also recruited by
Al-Shabaab.
The report was written by Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, which is
made up of representatives of Canada's national security agencies. A
copy of was obtained under the Access to Information Act.
It says 13% of the cargo that passes through Canadian ports transits the
pirate-infested waters around the Horn of Africa. Last year, a shipment
of Canadian iron ore was commandeered by Somalia pirates and released
after the owner of the vessel, the Yasa Neslihan, paid a ransom, the
report says.
Somali pirate attacks more than doubled last year to 115, 46 of which
were successful. Given the millions worth of ransom payments involved,
the "operation ties" between the pirates and Al-Shabaab could earn
significant sums for the militants.
Al-Shabaab is an armed group that is fighting what it calls a jihad to
impose Islamic law in Somalia and beyond.
The group adheres to al-Qaeda's anti-Western ideology, and the report
says that, "some Al-Shabaab fighters and leaders have also received
guidance from al-Qaeda and have attended foreign training camps."
As part of a recruiting effort aimed at Western youths, Al-Shabaab has
been distributing Internet propaganda videos in English that feature rap
music and show foreign fighters engaged in attacks.
The Somali-Canadians under investigation are in their early- to
mid-twenties. Most left Toronto together in early November without
informing their families or friends. Investigators believe they are
already in Somalia.
The Abu Huraira mosque, where some of them worshipped, has urged anyone
with information to come forward.
Source: National Post, Thursday, December 03, 2009
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