NEFA Foundation: Shebaab al-Mujahideen Strongly Denies Threatening Pirates in Somalia
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new communiqué from the Shebaab al-Mujahideen Movement in Somalia denying published reports that it intends to fight with local pirate forces for control of a hijacked Saudi supertanker off the coast of East Africa. The communiqué condemned the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera satellite television network for “publish[ing] a completely false report, in which it alleged that a spokesman for the Shebaab al-Mujahideen Movement confirmed that the movement has threatened the pirates [in Somalia] and has offered guarantees for the release of the Saudi oil tanker. We question the accuracy of this report and demand that Al-Jazeera identify their unknown source. Did Al-Jazeera even try to confirm such reports with our media office, which is well-known to them? …Why is Al-Jazeera putting such emphasis on the information that it obtained from an uncredentialed spokesman, and yet totally ignoring an interview done over 2 years ago with our official spokesman? Also, Al-Jazeera has falsely invented communiqués that it claimed were the wills of the martyrdom attackers [i.e. suicide bombers] responsible for the operations in Hargeisa and Busaso—yet, we have never published any statements regarding the afore-mentioned attacks.”
A translation of the communique can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.
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