Website: Somali Militants 'Officially' Pledge Allegiance To Bin Laden

By: CBS News Investigates
Topics: Africa

(Islamic administration of Kissmayo)

Islamist militants in the Somali city of Kissmayo pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, according to a statement posted on a Somali jihadi blog. "The Islamic administration of Kissmayo, under the command of Sheikh Abu Bakr Zayla'I, pledged allegiance to Sheikh Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Yahya al-Libi God protect them all," the statement said.

The allegiance oath came in an audio statement voiced by the Deputy leader of al Shabab Kissmayo division, Abdel Ghani Mohammad Yousuf, and aired on a local radio station called "al Andalus Islamic Radio." He said that the group did not "fear the infidels of America and their allies, nor did they fear the apostate government in Somalia. "

The deputy leader announced in his radio address that his group gets its religious edicts from the leaders of al Qaeda. "I say to the Somali people that our jihad is an integral part of that of our brethren in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. He added that "every aspect of jihad management in Somalia" was for senior al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan.

President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed had told a press conference in Mogadishu last month that foreign fighters had joined the ranks of Shabab al Mujahideen group and appealed to the international community for help.

This is the first time that Islamist militants in Somalia openly associate themselves with al Qaeda, despite previous indications of cooperation and coordination between the two groups.

In March 2009, bin Laden released an audiotape that he dedicated entirely to Somalia, which reflected his interest and that of al Qaeda in the country. In the tape, Bin Laden lashed out at the newly elected Somali president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed and urged Somali militants to overthrow him.