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NEFA Foundation: Reports of Squabbling Over French Hostages in Somalia

By Evan Kohlmann

nefasomalia2.jpgThe NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new post from online jihadi discussion forums that describes a dispute over two French security consultants in Somalia who were kidnapped from a Mogadishu hotel on July 14. The dispute surrounding the hostages reportedly resulted in "disunity in Hizbul Islam that reached the limit of battle." July 2009 media reports provide additional context as a Somali police officer was quoted in the press as saying, "The higher-ranking French official was taken by al-Shabaab and the other remained with [Sheikh Hassan] Dahir Aweys," who is the leader of Hizbul Islam.

An English translation of the account published online can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website.

For more information about the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, see my NEFA Foundation report, "Shabaab al-Mujahideen: Migration and Jihad in the Horn of Africa."