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By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR and KATHARINE HOURELD, 
Associated Press


      MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - After Mohamed Ibrahim Suley joined
Somalia's al-Qaida-linked insurgency, foreign fighters taught him
how to plant bombs and plan assassinations. He fought alongside an
Indian, an Eritrean and an American.


      But after five years, Suley grew disillusioned by the deaths and
by the actions of senior commanders. Then one day, during a
firefight against government forces, one of the foreign fighters
deliberately shot Suley. The foreigner was displeased because Suley
had stopped to attend to a wounded friend.


      Hundreds of foreign fighters have brought battlefield knowledge
and cash to the insurgent group called al-Shabab. But their
hardline ideology alienates many Somalis. For his part, Suley
abandoned the militia after the foreign fighter turned on him.


      "I defected from al-Shabab because I was deliberately shot by a
foreigner," the 29-year-old Suley told a reporter, pulling up his
shirt to show bullet scars. "He shot me in the back after I had
defied his order to not to help some of my friends."


      Suley's experiences, relayed at a fortified government position
in Mogadishu in an interview arranged by a public relations firm
working for the United Nations, illustrate the complex relationship
between Somali insurgents and foreigners who have joined them to
topple the country's weak U.N.-backed government. The foreigners
are often blamed for promoting a more hardline version of Islam
than Somalis are used to, alienating the local population, but
al-Shabab cannot afford to dump them.


      Foreign intelligence services say a few hundred foreign fighters
are helping train al-Shabab and carry out attacks. Most are from
other countries in East Africa, but a few come from further afield
- Chechnya, Pakistan and even America. They provide cash, skills,
and volunteers fluent in English to become suicide bombers. Some
teach the insurgency increasingly sophisticated tactics, propaganda
and bomb-making.


      On the advice of teachers at Suley's religious school in the
city of Kismayo, he and 39 other students joined an Islamist
training camp in 2006. They learned to plant land mines and plan
assassinations.


      Among the instructors, Suley said, was an Indian man nicknamed
Abumuslim and an Eritrean. Later, in the Somali capital, he briefly
met a white American recruit - Omar Hammami from Alabama, according
to Suley's account. Nicknamed Abumansur Al-Amriki, Hammami has
starred in al-Shabab recruitment videos that have been posted
online.


      "He would organize and lead to us to the fighting. Most of time
he was carrying a walkie-talkie," Suley said, adding that
al-Shabab fighters preferred walkie-talkies to mobile phones
because they feared cell phone conversations could be intercepted.


      Sniper attacks are rising, and intelligence analysts say it's
because of the training camps run by foreigners. There was one
insurgent sniper attack in December 2009, but in December 2010
there were 18, according to the African Union, which has deployed
8,000 troops to Somalia to back the government.


      Some foreigners have high-ranking positions within the
insurgency and do long-term strategic planning, said Lauren
Gelfand, the Africa and Middle East editor of Jane's Defence
Weekly, a military publication. But Gelfand said others are young
recruits hoping to gain experience in Somalia to start their own
Islamist uprisings at home.


      Fighters who do not have military skills but can speak fluent
English have been used as suicide bombers because they can get past
checkpoints.


      Suley said many of his friends and classmates who took up arms
with him had died in the war.


      "Every day I would see casualties from my side," Suley said.


      He says he became disillusioned by the deaths and from seeing
senior commanders send young recruits - often children - to the
front lines while they themselves stayed out of harm's way. Being
shot by the foreign fighter was the last straw, but now Suley has
nowhere to go.


      Scores have defected from al-Shabab since 2007, said a Nairobi
based security official. There's no program to reintegrate them,
and if Suley ventures outside the small area controlled by the
government he would likely be killed.


      The government - which is totally dependent on foreign support -
is trying to design a reintegration program. But donors are
reluctant to back it because disarmament is complicated and the
financial commitment could grow, the official said, citing
discussions he had been party to. He spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.


      Somali Defense Minister Abdihakim Mohamud Hajji Fiqi said there
have been at least seven defections so far this year.


      Houreld reported from Nairobi, Kenya.
      

Gallery

Forum: The future of Somalia, from young Somalis

Twenty years after Somali government collapse, Minnesota youth reflect on ongoing war

A complex relationship binds Somali insurgents and foreigners who have joined them to topple the country's weak U.N.-backed government. The foreigners are often blamed for promoting a more hardline version of Islam than Somalis are used to, alienating the local population, but al-Shabab cannot afford to dump them.

Defection reveals foreigners' role in Somali war

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