Zubair al-Muhajir, a senior foreign fighter with the Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen (HSM), defected to Somali authorities and is now in Mogadishu.
The operative confessed to had traveled from London to join the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in 2006. Intelligence reports indicate that Al-Muhajir rose through Shabaab ranks and finally became a member of Al-Shabaab’s Shura Council of religious scholars.
The operative who was originally from Ivory Coast, confirmed to have worked with the jihadist group for several years but he fell out with the jihadist group in 2013 when its intelligence Amniyaat force arrested him and imprisoned him for three years.
Al-Muhajir revealed how Al-Shabaab is lying to the Muslim community and to the world by claiming to implement the Sharia (Islamic law). He noted that Shabaab uses Sharia just to fool, lie and betray Muslim community while in reality they act against Sharia by killing innocent people.
Al-Muhajir also revealed that while in Al-Shabaab, he was appointed the head of a committee to arbitrate a bitter dispute between the late leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and three other commanders namely; Ibrahim al-Afghani, Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour and Fuad Mohamed Khalaf Shongole in 2011.
The then Al-Shabaab Emir, Godane rejected his mediation efforts and subsequently execution of al-Afghani followed in June 2013. Robow eventually decamped from the terror group while Shongole is still working with Al-Shabaab.
A number of key commanders and operatives were detained for allegedly opposing Godane. Zubair al-Muhajir says he was among those detained.
The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) runs an open amnesty program for those denouncing Al-Shabaab and their violence, besides group’s ideology.
Al-Muhajir underscores that FGS and allied forces, have to take the issue of Al-Shabaab seriously, otherwise they will continue to kill the innocent people in the name of Sharia. He advised counter-terrorism assets to take the fight with Al-Shabaab on the ideology side as it is this side which is boosting the Somali based jihadist group.
If the people and brainwashed adherents realize that the ideology is wrong with Islamic proofs, no doubt jihadist group will no longer be there for long.
