Al-Qaeda and Somalia’s terrorist group Al-Shabaab denounced Osama bin Laden(Usaamah bin Laadin) death, while Eastern African countries congratulate US for the mission.
Sheikh Hasan Dahir ‘Aweys’ described Sheikh Osama bin Laden ‘a brave Muslim leader martyred while fighting against the West and infidels’, in a statement he issued this week, according to the weekly ‘A Week in the Horn’. Sheikh Hasan Dahir ‘Aweys’ is the former leader of Hizbul Islam, and previously of Al-Itihaad al Islamiya, who joined Al-Shabaab last year.
Sheikh Hasan Dahir ‘Aweys’ claimed ‘the death of Sheikh Osama bin Ladin will not affect the Jihad of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab.’ He called on Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda not to be disappointed by Osama bin Laden’s death and urged them to step up their attacks.
The statement of Sheikh ‘Aweys’ underlines Al-Shabaab’s links to Al-Qaeda, and emphasizes that those who have been trying to persuade ‘Aweys’ and his followers to join the reconciliation efforts[with the Transitional Federal government of Somalia] have been wasting their time, ‘A Week in Horn’ noted.
However, hundreds of the resident of Mogadishu took part in rally on last Wednesday organized by local civil society groups to congratulated U.S. president Barrack Obama for ordering the mission to kill bin Laden. According to media reports:
The huge crowds who gathered at a main street in the government- held side of the Somali capital chanted anti-Al Qaeda slogans and carried posters and placards condemning the leader of the terror network and its local affiliate Al Shabaab.
The Somali Islamist group of Al Shabaab previously pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and his movement while the Al Qaeda’ s top leadership including bin Laden himself “blessed” Al Shabaab and its campaign against Somali government and African Union peacekeeping troops supporting the government.
Al Shabaab which has foreign fighters on its ranks has been behind several deadly suicide attacks that killed Somali government forces and African peacekeepers as well as senior government officials including ministers as well as civilians since the start of the current insurgency.
People at the rally burned the flag of Al Qaeda while some others carried posters that read: “Terror terror go away, little kids want to play”. Another said: “Osama is dead. No more fund, no more Al Shabaab, no more terror”.
Later on Sunday, President of the UN-recognized Government of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, said in the capital Mogadishu:
“Osama was a threat to the world, including Muslims,”…”the suicide bombings that killed many government ministers[in Somalia] were the ideology of Osama.”
The Ethiopian government congratulated ‘the entire people of America and the government of the United States for hunting and destroying Al Qaeda leader-Osama bin Laden’ in its statement issued shortly after bin Laden’s death. Walta Information Center(WIC) reported, on May 3, that:
The government also salutes all parties involved in the operation, particularly the US anti-terrorist operatives, for killing this unrepentant leader of an international terrorist organization, according to a statement Government Communication Affairs Office sent to WIC today.
The whole world knows that Osama bin Laden organized Al Qaeda and committed terrorist acts that cut short the lives of many innocent civilian victims, it said.
In our own immediate vicinity, bin Laden’s Al Qaeda has wrecked havoc in stateless Somalia, killed and maimed many innocent people in Kenya and Tanzania, and has for years been engaged in terrorist activities aimed at destabilizing the Horn of Africa, the statement added.
“As a victim of repeated terrorist attacks, Ethiopia feels and shares the agony and suffering of nations who louse citizens to senseless terrorist attacks;” it said.
Although the death of Osama bin Laden does not mean the end the anti-terrorist struggle, it is nonetheless, a big victory for the global anti-terrorist struggle; it is nonetheless, a big victory for the global anti-terrorist forces, it said.
Similarly, Kenya and Uganda hailed bin Laden’s death as an act of justice on Monday.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said: ‘His killing is an act of justice to those Kenyans who lost their lives and the many more who suffered injuries’. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said: “Kenyans are happy and thank the U.S. people, the Pakistani people and everybody else who managed to kill Osama.” Odinga added: “Osama’s death can only be positive for Kenya, but we need to have a stable government in Somalia,”…”The loss of its leader may first upset the movement but then it will regroup and continue.”
Kenya noted that more must be done to bring stability to neighboring Somalia, where al Qaeda-linked fighters are waging an insurgency.
Ugandan army spokesperson also welcomed bin Laden’s death.
Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) spokesman Lt. Col Felix Kulayigye said: “We may see al Shabaab losing some of its backing in terms of financial support because al Qaeda was playing a big role. The main finance man behind al Qaeda was Osama bin Laden.” He suggested that the region should be on guard for retaliatory attacks, although bin Laden’s death could help to weaken the Somali insurgents.
Uganda’s army, plays a leading role in the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia(AMISOM).
In the mean time, Al-Qaeda issued a statement confirming the death of Osama bin Laden. The statement attributed to the ‘general leadership’ of Al-Qaeda and posted by BBC says:
Sheikh Osama’s blood…will remain, with permission from Allah, the Almighty, a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries.
Their happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears. We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt.
P.S.: Though the name is most commonly spelled as ‘Osama bin Laden’ and FBI spell it as ‘Usama bin Laden’, Arabic sources indicate it is better spelled as ‘Osama bin Laden’.
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