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Terror Networks
Al-Shabaab spokesman among five extremists added to US global terror list
2021-08-09
[Garowe] The State Department has designated five Jihadists from Africa, in the latest move meant to counter global terrorism, which is fast taking roots in Africa, a continent that had previously been peaceful from such activities.

In a statement, the US said it has designated Ali Mohammed Rage "Ali Dhere", and Abdikadir Mohammed Abdikadir "Ikrima" as global terrorists. The US says Ali Dhere has been involved in attack planning in Kenya and Somalia, while Ikrima served as Head of Operations and Logistics.

"Ali Mohammed Rage, also known as Ali Dheere, is al-Shabaab
...... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
’s front man and a big shot of the group. He replaced Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, al-Shabaab’s top front man in May 2009. Rage has been involved in attack planning that has targeted areas in Kenya and Somalia," the US said.

Robow is now on NISA house arrest after he was barred from running for Southwest state presidency in December 2018 by the Somali government.

"Abdikadir Mohammed Abdikadir, also known as Ikrima, is a controller and operational planner. As of November 2019, Abdikadir was an al-Shabaab big shot and served as the Head of Operations and Logistics. Abdikadir had also directed previous attack planning for al-Shabaab," it added.

As a result of Friday's actions, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of these individuals must be blocked and reported to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC], the statement read.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons designated may themselves be exposed to the designation. The two were some of the senior-most al-Shabaab leaders in Somalia.

"Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant financial transaction or provides significant financial services for the persons designated today could be subject to U.S. correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions," State Department noted..

Others who were designated include Bonomade Machude Omar, the senior military commander of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
's affiliate in Mozambique, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Omar led a group of forces of Evil who killed dozens of people in an attack on the Amarula Hotel in the town of Palma in March, Blinken said.

He also is responsible for attacks elsewhere in Mozambique and in Tanzania, Blinken said. Sidang Hitta and Salem Ould al-Hasan, big shots of Mali-based al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Moslemin, were designated.

Al-Shabaab has been terrorizing innocent civilians, security forces, and senior government officials in Somalia and across the border. Another group that identifies itself as al-Shabaab has been punishing residents of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique.
Related:
Salem Ould al-Hasan: 2013-06-28 Ansar al-Sharia appears in Mauritania
Link


Africa Horn
Robow Speaks To Media In Mogadishu, Renounces Violence
2017-08-16
[RADIOSHABELLE] Former Al shabaab deputy leader and front man Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali known as "Abu Mansur" has fir the first time faced the media in Mogadishu, to renounce violence.

Speaking at a presser at Royal Palace in the capital, Robow has announced that he has defected from Al shabaab just five years and 5 years, and 7 months ago.

Continuing, Sheikh Mukhtar said he has deserted the bully boy group after a fall out with the top leader over an ideology that doesn’t serve the interest for Islam, people and country.

Finally, Robow has thanked Somali Federal government, international partners and the people for welcoming him in Mogadishu.
Link


Africa Horn
Turkey to issue arrest warrant for Shaboob leaders
2014-06-03
Turkey will apply to INTERPOL following a court in Ankara’s ruling to issue an arrest warrant for five al-Shabab leaders in relation to a suicide attack in Somalia.

Ankara’s 6th Penal Court has ruled to issue an arrest warrant on five Ethiopian al-Shabaab leaders as part of a probe into a suicide attack on the Turkish Embassy, which killed an embassy personnel in Mogadishu in July last year. Ankara’s public prosecutor will also apply to INTERPOL to issue a red alert on the suspects after determining that the attack was held upon their leaders’ instructions.

On July 28, al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants staged a suicide attack on a Turkish Embassy annex, killing one Turkish guard and wounding three others.

The court ordered the arrest in absentia of Ahmed Abdi aw-Mohamed, the leader of the terrorist organization, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, the deputy leader, a senior commander Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, the spiritual leader Hassan Dahir Aweys and Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, another senior leader.

During the attack police officers who guarded the Turkish Embassy annex, housing Turkish diplomatic staff, managed to kill two assailants but a third attacker detonated a vehicle laden with explosives.
Personally I think the Turks should send out a hunting party, and load up on mustache wax and truncheons...
Link


Africa Horn
Are these the faces behind city mall attack?
2013-09-30
[Daily Nation (Kenya)]
Ahmed Abdi Godane, alias, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr

Al-Shabaab founder and overall commander.

A leaked National Security Intelligence (NIS) report says that early this year Godane held meetings in Somalia to come up with strategies on how to execute attacks in Kenya. The FBI has put a $7 million bounty on him.

Godane, who was born in northern Somalia, now known as Somaliland, has been leading al-Shabaab since 2008.

He studied accounting in Pakistan and while there he occasionally travelled to Afghanistan where he came into contact with al-Qaeda, led by the late Osama bin Laden.

When he returned home he founded the northern wing of Somalia's al-Ittihad al-Islami (Islamic Union), which was established by Somali Mujahiddins returning from Afghanistan. He was to later start recruiting and indoctrinating the militia who were later to start attacks against Western interests in Somalia, including kidnapping and killing of Western nationals.

Godane was to later join the Council of Islamic Courts before teaming up with Aden Hashi Farah to form al-Shabaab when they split from CIC.

**********

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow alias Abu Mansur

Al-Shabaab deputy leader

A leaked NIS report says Muktar Sheikh Robow and Dahir Aweys arrived in Hela Marer area, Gedo region, from Ufuro area in the Bay region, Somalia, on March 22.

They held a meeting with 50 other leaders where they discussed the mode of training for their operatives as well as plan on how to carry out attacks on vital installations in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Mombasa and Nairobi.

The FBI has put a $5 million bounty on Robow.

Robow, the deputy leader of al-Shabaab, is also a former spokesman for the group.

He was one of the founders of the terror group. He is from Baidoa in the Bay region of Somalia, where his Rahanweyn clan holds overwhelming influence.

Robow established the first militant Islamist training camp in Somalia, al-Hudda, in Huddur in 1996. He reportedly left Somalia in 2000 to train with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He returned to Somalia after the Taliban fell from power. In 2003, he helped create al-Shabaab from the remnants of al Ittihad al Islami.

***********

Sheikh Ahmed Iman Ali

According to a leaked National Security Intelligence report, Iman -- who was appointed by Al-Shabaab as its de facto leader of Kenyan fighters in Somalia -- was among the masterminds of the Westgate attack.

"Al-Shabaab remains focused on conducting attacks through individuals that have not been arrested before. The masterminds of the intended attacks are Kenyans, who are in middle and senior management levels of the terror group.

Among them; Maalim Abass Guyo, Ahmed Iman Ali and Jan Mohamed Khan alias Abu Musab Al Mombasa," the NIS report says.

Last year, Iman released a video declaring war against Kenya on behalf of Al-Shabaab. Interviews with those who know Sheikh Iman, a former chairman of Muslim Youth Centre (MYC) in Pumwani, Nairobi, say he has been controversial since his days at Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, where he graduated with a degree in engineering. Born either in 1973 or 1974, Iman presents security agents with something new in the fight against terrorism.

Those who know him say he was a charming preacher with a fanatical following among various Kenyan communities.

************

Samantha Lewthwaite a.k.a. "White Widow"

The British media has claimed she was involved in the terrorist attack on the Westgate Shopping Mall.

There is no evidence so far to link her to the attack but police and security forces say Samantha Lewthwaite-- the widow of one of the four suicide bombers who devastated London in July 2005 -- was involved in the Kenya attack, let alone being a "mastermind," as the British papers have claimed.

The International Police (Interpol) has issued a red-alert calling for arrest.

She is wanted by Kenya "on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011" as part of a suspected plot to bomb cities along the Kenyan coast at Christmas.

************

Abu Sandheere

He is believed to have been the one who escorted the terrorists who attacked Westgate Shopping Mall.

He is suspected to be a 50-year-old Kenyan man who is an associate of the late Al-Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah. Sandheere, whose parents were a Maasai and a European, is thought to have escaped moments after the assault started on Saturday.

"He escorted the attackers to the mall and then left as people were fleeing. He then travelled to the border and crossed to Somalia," said an intelligence source.

According to counter-terrorism sources, the man seconded to Al-Shabaab by the Al-Qaeda network arrived in Somalia on Friday after days of avoiding the tight security that had been mounted across the country to stop suspected terrorists from escaping.

Sandheere, said to be the regional Al-Qaeda man in charge of intelligence, logistics and special operations, escaped from Westgate with two other unidentified terrorists. He is also described as being "extremely sharp".
Link


Africa Horn
al-Shaboobs implement positive leadership development program
2013-08-05
MARKA, Somalia -- Heavy fighting erupted in Gobale vicinity of Lower Shabelle region between the loyalists of Al Shabaab chief Ahmed Godane and former Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (Abu Mansur) on Saturday, Garowe Online reports. Local reports say that the fighting lasted for nearly "seven hours" with Robow loyalists gaining the upper hand.

"The battle began Saturday's afternoon and stopped at midnight, Militants loyal to Robow are now controlling the area and the local communities fled here," said an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being killed.

"Many militants including two foreigners died in the battle and one of the foreigners seemed as battle commander," he added.

As dissension and splitting continue to spread within Al Shabaab ranks, in an audio recording provided to Somali media last week, Ahmed Godane, Al Shabaab chief, said an enemy wants to split 'Mujahedeen" lines and I warn those figures not to encourage the group's division.

Sheikh Robow is one of senior Al Shabaab members who accused Godane of straying from the path of Jihad and following an attempt to arrest him by Godane militants months ago; he escaped from Ramo Adey village of Bay region where he had bases.

Al Shabaab militants loyal to Ahmed Godane previously executed Godane's deputy Ibrahim Haji Jama (Micad) and Abdihamid Hashi Olhaye (Moallim Burhan) in Barawe, a coastal town in Lower Shabelle region.

The growing violent dispute within Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group also resulted to be detained one of their prominent officials, Hassan Dahir Aweys who had been serving in different administrative capacities by the Somali Federal Government after he fled to his native region of Galgudud in late June 2013.
Link


Africa Horn
Shabaab chiefs could be probed by ICC
2011-11-01
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenya and Somalia want the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
 (ICC) to investigate the leaders of Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
 for crimes against humanity.

Kenya also announced plans to go to the UN Security Council to seek support for an international naval blockade of Kismayu to starve Al-Shabaab of income.

In a joint communiqué issued in Nairobi on Monday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his Somalia counterpart Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia had given Kenya permission to pursue the bully boys, but hand over the liberated areas to the local administration.

They asked the international community to provide warships to patrol Kismayu, regarded as Al-Shabaab's main source of income.

The leaders said the ICC should investigate individuals within Al-Shabaab over the terrorist attacks.

"The TFG will seek ICC assistance in beginning immediate investigations into crimes against humanity committed by individuals within the Al-Shabaab movement with the aim of seeking their indictment," read the statement in part.

Some of the known leaders of the group include Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubayr (better known as Ahmed Godane), the Supreme Leader, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Ali Abu Mansoor, the deputy leader, Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, the propaganda chief, Sheikh Hussein Fidow, chief of political and regional affairs, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, former leader of the defunct Hizbu Islam, Sheikh Hassan Abdullahi Hersi alias Sheikh Hassan Turki, former deputy leader of the defunct Hizbu Islam and Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the front man.

The Nairobi meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Yusuf Haji, Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi, National Security Intelligence Service chief Michael Gichangi, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka and Kenya's ambassador to Somalia Maj Gen (rtd) James Mulinge.

Mr Ali was accompanied by Somalia's deputy prime minister and Minister for Defence Hussein Aab Isse, Minister for Interior and National Security Abdisamad Mhamud Hassan, TFG Armed Forces commander Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali Dini and Somalia's ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur.

Mr Ali was in the country to clarify reports by Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed questioning Kenyan's military intervention.

He said the TFG was united and that it supported the operation.

"I came with the blessing of the President. We will work with the Kenya government. There's no discord," Mr Ali said.

The join-statement said the security operation in Somalia was aimed at eliminating the threat posed by Al-Shabaab to Kenya's national security and economic well being "and is based on the legitimate right to self-defence under article 51 of the UN Charter."

The countries said the Al-Qaeda linked group was a common enemy for the region and the world.
Link


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab calls for attacks on Uganda, Burundi embassies
2010-07-31
[Mail and Globe] Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants have called for worldwide attacks on the embassies of Uganda and Burundi, whose troops make up a large African Union (AU) force in Somalia, a terror monitoring group said on Friday.

In a video aired on the Islamic militants' "news channel," al-Shabaab spokesperson Sheikh Mukhtar Robow calls "for attacks against the embassies of Uganda and Burundi around the world", US monitoring group IntelCentre reported.

The hard-line Somali rebels promised on Thursday to turn Mogadishu into a graveyard for AU troops, after the pan-African body announced it had received pledges for 4 000 additional troops for the Somalia force, also known as Amisom.

Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, another al-Shabaab spokesperson, had warned that beefing up the AU force, currently made up of about 6 000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, would only reinforce their jihad, or "holy war".

The English-language video released on the group's channel also claims responsibility for an attack on Soccer World Cup fans in Kampala, which killed 76 people on July 11, IntelCentre said.

Suicide bombers detonated deadly explosives in the midst of revellers watching the World Cup final at two separate entertainment venues in the Ugandan capital. Scores of people also were injured.

Uganda became the first country in early 2007 to dispatch troops to Amisom, which remains the main obstacle preventing al-Shabaab from seizing full control of the capital.

The July 11 blasts were the worst in East Africa since the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and which were also claimed by al-Qaeda.

According to the US monitoring group, al-Shabaab announced "the beginning of their own 'news channel' on July 27".
Link


Africa Horn
Somalias Shabab pledges to help Yemen's Qaeda
2010-01-02
[Al Arabiya Latest] Somalia's hard-line Shabab insurgents Friday said they will send fighters to Yemen to help al-Qaeda there in its fight against government forces, as the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appealed for reason from those who joined the terror network.

Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour, a senior official of the Shabab militia that pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda, announced the plan as he presented hundreds of newly-trained fighters in the north of Mogadishu.

"We tell our Muslim brothers in Yemen that we will cross the water between us and reach your place to assist you fight the enemy of Allah," said Robow, to chants of "Allahu Akbar", or Allah is great, by the young fighters.

"Today you see what is happening in Yemen, the enemy of Allah is destroying your Muslim brothers," he added.

"I call upon the young men in Arab lands to join the fight there."
Because Somalia is an Arab country, rather than North African.
/sarc
But I do think sending all those rabid young men off to die by Saudi bullets and Saudi missiles and Saudi white phosphorus is a brilliant idea, if they absolutely refuse to become sensible.
Yemeni forces have been battling al-Qaeda militants in the country and last month launched raids on suspected targets in the central and the Sanaa regions, killing more than 60 of them.
Link


Africa Horn
Somali rebels seize town as fighting kills 69
2009-02-26
Somalia's Shebab militia wrested control of a border-town from pro-government forces Wednesday, witnesses and a rights group said, as Islamist insurgents battled African Union peacekeepers and Somali police for a second day, bringing to 69 the death toll in the worst bout of fighting for weeks.

The Shebab overpowered government forces in Hodur, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of the capital Mogadishu near the Ethiopian border, in clashes that erupted early in the morning, the group said.

The flare-up in violence in the caital came just days after new President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed returned to Mogadishu to set up his new unity government, the 15th attempt to bring peace to the failed Horn of Africa state since 1991. Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader himself, has pledged to stabilize Somalia.

"Fighting has killed 48 civilians and injured 90 in the last 30 hours," said Ali Yasin Gedi, vice-chairman of the local Elman Peace and Human Rights group.

Witnesses said at least 15 Islamist fighters and six policemen were also killed in exchanges of gunfire and mortar bombs that have rocked the coastal capital for two days.

Rebel militia takes control
" There was heavy fighting in the town this morning and the Somali government forces fled after the fighting and the Shebab are controlling the town now "
Mohamed Dirie, a Hodur resident
"The mujahideen (fighters) took control of Hodur and the situation in the town is calm," top Shebab commander Sheikh Mukhtar Robow told AFP.

"The town has fallen to the Shebab fighters and there is no fighting inside the town now," local elder Adan Mohamed Yunus said, adding that he had no word on casualties.

"There was heavy fighting in the town this morning and the Somali government forces fled after the fighting and the Shebab are controlling the town now," said Mohamed Dirie, a Hodur resident.

The Shebab, a former military youth wing of an Islamist movement ousted by Ethiopia-backed Somali forces two years ago, had carried out relentless attacks against the Ethiopian forces who withdrew from Somalia last month. In recent months, the Shebab have also launched operations against rival Somali factions and conquered large swathes of territory, leaving government forces in control of little more than a handful of blocks in Mogadishu.

Islamist forces opposed to U.N.-sponsored reconciliation efforts in Somalia have launched several deadly attacks against the government and African Union forces in recent days.
Link


Africa Horn
Red on Red in Somalia
2009-01-16
Shabaab and rival Islamist group clash in central Somalia

By Bill Roggio

Two commanders of the al Qaeda-backed As Shabaab were killed during heavy fighting with a government-supported Islamist militia in central Somalia. Shabaab leaders Mohamed Mohamed Salad and Mohamed Yusuf Nur were "martyred" in the town of Guriel during clashes with the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljamaa, Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour told the media. More than 30 Somalis were killed and more than 50 were wounded during the latest round of fighting in the contested central Somali town.

The fighting between Shabaab and Ahlu Sunna began in late December after Ahlu Sunna attacked Shabaab in three towns in the central Somali province of Galgadud. Forty Somalis were killed during three days of fighting that resulted in the ouster of Shabaab forces from the town of Guriel.

Shabaab, or the Somali Youth Movement, has gained considerable ground in southern and central Somalia after heavy fighting during 2008. More than 16,000 Somalis were killed last year. Late last summer, Kismayo, Somalia's second largest city, fell to Shabaab. The fighting left the powerless Transitional Federal Government in control over the town of Baidoa and in small pockets in the capital of Mogadishu.

Shabaab was formed shortly after the Ethiopians invaded Somalia and ejected the Islamic Courts Union from power in late 2006. Many of Shabaab's senior leaders trained in al Qaeda camps and are considered al Qaeda leaders. Senior Shabaab leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is wanted by the U.S. Government for his involvement in the 1998 African embassy attacks and 2002 Mombasa attacks. In September 2008 Nabhan formally reached out to al Qaeda's central leadership to formally join the group.

The fighting between Shabaab and Ahlu Sunna is taking place as the Ethiopian Army is withdrawing from the capital of Mogadishu and other Somali regions. Six of Ethiopia's 14 bases in Mogadishu have been vacated.

Islamist militias allied with the Ethiopian faction of the Alliance for Re-libration of Somalia (ARS), led by al Qaeda leader Hassan Dahir Aweys, the former chief of the Islamic Courts, have taken control of the Ethiopian bases. Forces under the command of Sheikh Yusuf Indha'adde, the former defense minister of the Islamic Courts, have also attacked Ethiopian forces as they withdrew from Mogadishu.

The Eritrean faction of the ARS opposes the Djibouti peace accords, an agreement that calls for power-sharing between the Islamist militias and the government, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, the director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy's Center for Terrorism Research told The Long War Journal.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former political leader of the Islamic Courts, leads what is called the Djibouti faction of the ARS. Sharif and Aweys have publicly clashed over their disagreement over the peace talks. Aweys claimed he took control of the ARS in July. In August, Aweys said his forces would attack UN peacekeepers and Ethiopian forces would be "expelled from the country."

Shabaab has also vowed to attack the remaining 3,000 African Union peacekeepers as well as target Ethiopian forces as they leave the country. "We will strike AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) bases like the airport and K4," Abu Mansour said today.
Link


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab set up regional administration
2008-12-07
Somali opposition fighters, Al-Shabaab set up a regional administration in a southern region increasing their footholds in the country.

Al-Shabaab appointed a regional governor to the Lower Shabelle region marking off their expanding territory from the areas held by the transitional government, the Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported.

The group's spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow reportedly said Sheikh Abdulrahman Siiro was inaugurated as the governor during a ceremony held in the regional capital Merka. The fighters had seized the capital from the government troops last month.

Siiro's inferiors such as the head of the Supreme Court and the region's security chief were also named.

The fighters have captured most parts of the country thanks to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)'s declining power. They have been struggling for power since 2006 when their leadership, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), were removed on the back of an Ethiopian intervention.
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Africa Horn
Somali rebel chief advises pirates to sink arms-laden ship if ransom isn't paid
2008-10-03
Somali Islamist insurgents on Thursday urged pirates holding a Ukrainian ship carrying military hardware to destroy the cargo and the vessel if they are not paid ransom.

As US warships and other navies blockaded the MV Faina off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, the pirates have insisted on being paid $20 million to release the cargo and the 21-member crew.

"If they do not get the money they are demanding, we call on them to either burn down the ship and its arms or sink it," Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a spokesman for the Shabab movement, said in an interview.

But Robow said his movement, which is gradually gaining ground over interim government troops in southern Somalia, was not linked to the pirates who seized the Belize-flagged freighter last week as it headed for Mombasa in Kenya.

"We have no contacts and links with the pirates and they are in the waters for their own interests," he said. "It is a crime to take commercial ships but hijacking vessels that carry arms for the enemy of God is a different matter," added Robow, whose group nearly stamped out piracy when it ruled southern Somalia last year as part of an Islamist government ousted by Ethiopian and interim government forces in early 2007.

Robow claimed that the 33 Soviet-era T72 battle tanks and other military hardware on the MV Faina belonged to Ethiopian forces, who invaded at the behest of the Somali interim government to oust the Islamists from power.
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