ASSESSMENTS

Somalia: Al Shabaab Changes Its Name

Dec 6, 2011 | 12:00 GMT

Al Shabaab commander Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys

MUSTAFA ABDI/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

The nationalist factions of Somali Islamist group al Shabaab changed their name to the Somali Islamic Emirate at a five-day conference in south-central Somalia, Somali media reported Dec. 5. The conference shows that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Mukhtar Robow are alive despite occasional airstrikes against high-value al Shabaab targets, operating with impunity in south-central Somalia and preparing for a possible offensive against them by foreign forces. Meanwhile, the absence from the conference of transnationalist faction leader Ahmad Abdi Godane shows that there has been no reconciliation between his forces and the nationalists.

The nationalist factions of al Shabaab have rebranded themselves as the Somali Islamic Emirate, consolidating their forces in preparation for a potential offensive against them. ...

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