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East Africa: Bin Laden's new front
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| 04 August 2006 |
East Africa: Bin Laden's new front
Two audio statements released by Osama bin Laden since late April suggest that Al-Qaeda is taking an increasing interest in East Africa. Bin Laden identified Sudan as a natural focus for the spread of jihadist activity from Arabia and backed the recent Islamist victories in Somalia.
Bin Laden on Sudan
Bin Laden's 23 April statement was strongly critical of the peace agreement signed between Sudan's military-Islamist central government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in January 2005. Disregarding the non-Muslim identity of the southern Sudanese, Bin Laden stated: "Nobody, whoever he is, has the right to accede an inch of the land of Islam and the south will remain an inseparable part of the land of Islam."
He went on to identify the post-2003 Darfur conflict as part of the same "continuous Crusader-Zionist war against Muslims", a less credible assertion given that the combatants are all Muslims. Whereas Western commentators tend to blame the Khartoum government for exacerbating the Darfur conflict by arming and inciting the local Arab minority against the various non-Arab groups, Bin Laden accuses the US of exploiting inter-tribal tensions to stir rebellion in the province as a pretext for "sending in Crusader troops to occupy the region and steal its oil".
Bin Laden on Somalia
In a statement released on 1 July, Bin Laden praised the Islamist forces in Somalia that seized control of most of Mogadishu from a coalition of US-inspired warlords on 5 June. He urged resistance against future peacekeepers, including those from so-called Islamic states.
Bin Laden's worldview contradicts local perceptions in both Somalia and Darfur, where the conflicts are not seen as part of a globalised struggle against anti-Islamic forces. Both conflicts pit Muslims against Muslims. In the case of Darfur, it may be argued that at least two of the three main rebel factions are already committed to an Islamist agenda, although Bin Laden appears to approve of neither.
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© 2006 Jane's Information Group
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