Serious doubts over Time magazine's claim to have interviewed Al-Shabab leader

Speculation is rife about a helicopter attack that targeted Al Shabab in Marka, a city near Mogadishu. There are several versions of what happened, but there are few things we know: 1) there was such attack 2) there was high level Al shabab member closeby 3) the attack failed and that's why no one is claiming (though the US carried similar attacks before).

But the story that caught my attention was Time magazine's improbable claim that they have interviewed Mukhtar Godane, the Amir or leader of Al-Shabab. This is a man who is reclusive and secretive even by Al Shabab standards, has never given media interviews - a  Mullah Omar of sorts. So the claim he he not to only gave an interview but chose to speak to Time magazine is very difficult to believe.

I would say with certaintly it's a hoax, a shameful fabrication.

Last week a Somali website, Somaliweyn.com, published a photo they claimed to be Al Shabab's leader but again people who had met him say it's a fake.

It's understandable journalists' obsession with reaching reclusive figures like Mukhtar Godane, Mullah Omar or OBL but if you can't get to them, then don't make up interviews.

It's dangerous to report from Somalia so Western media outlets like Time rely on fixers, often young men with little journalism training or experience but still Time Magazine has a responsibility to check these claims.

Update 1:
There are other reasons for my skepticism about the interview. For example, the article repeats speculations about Al-Shabab internal struggle almost word for word from other sources. For example, the government published a propaganda statement about how it's pushing back Al Shabab because of their in-fighting. There were a lot of similar speculations in the Somali media but little substance.
This is another reason for my doubts: The Time's interview claims that Al Shabab leader told them they were meeting to solve a dispute between him and his deputy. Al Shabab are very secrative about their internal affairs so for the top leader to volunteer such information is hard to believe.

Update 2:
Abu Mansour, the deputy leader of Al Shabab denied that there is any dispute between him and Godane. The clip of his denial is in VOA Somali (in Somali). More on this in English from Mogadishu Man blog.  In the sermon Abu Mansour says there is no dispute at all within the ranks of Al Shabab. I think Time needs to retract and apologize for this fabricated interview.

Somalia Update

More deaths in Mogadishu. AU peacekeepers retaliated with heavy artilary to an Al-Shabab suicide bombing in Mogadishu yesterday, the result: more than 20 civilians dead and 30 more injured. The minaret of one of the more famous mosques in Mogadishu, Sheik Ali Sufi mosque, was damaged by an artilary shell.

Al-Shabab, and other Islamist militias, made it clear they will continue fighting the African Union peacekeepers despite the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Mogadishu. Now, the 3000 AU peacekeepers are trapped in Mogadishu, attacked by Al-Shabab and despised by the population. Their presence in Mogadishu has only made the situation worse and the question is: what peace are they suppose to keep? Not only is there no peace, there is no political process that could lead to peace - at least not anytime soon.

The government has virtually collapsed but there now sign it might be resurructed. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the former leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, had signed a power-sharing deal with the government few months ago - it was never implemented, until now.

The opportunity came when former president Abdullah Yusuf, who had opposed the power-sharing deal, resigned. Now Sharif Ahmed, prime minister Nur Adde, speaker of the parliament Adan Madobe and MPs are gathering in Djibouti to select a new president and form a new government that includes Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's Islamist supporters. The talks in Djibouti is sponsored by the UN and has the support of the international community, or so it seems.

Back in Somalia, Al-Shabab and Ras Kamboni brigades reject the legitimacy of the government, even if other Islamists join it and say they will continue fighting as long as foreign troops are present in Somalia. They control large part of southern Somalia including the strategic port city of Kismayo and are heavily present in Mogadishu.

The Ethiopians are still around, too. Barre Hirale, a veteran warlord, told BBC Somali radio that he is heading to Kismayo with his militia along with Ethiopian troops to fight Al-Shabab. Hirale was chased out of Kismayo in 2006 by the Union of Islamist Courts and in 2008 by Al-Shabab, and twice more before that. He is one of a number groups that had been armed by Ethiopia in anticipation of their withdrawal.

Ethiopian had troops inside Somalia since 1996, backing and arming warlords - and Eritea has been doing the same, too. For Ethiopia and Eritrea are back in the business of proxy wars, in Somalia.