New York Daily News
by: Joseph Straw
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Omar Hamammi, seen in Mogadishu, Somalia, in May 2011. Hamammi, known for oddball jihadi rap tunes, recently posted a video online saying he believed his life was in danger. |
American member of African Al Qaeda group Al Shabaab said to be executed by rival terrorist
ALABAMA-born jihadist Omar Hammami is rumored dead in Somalia after he posted a bizarre video claiming he feared fellow radicals were out to martyr him.
A Somali news website reported Hammami, a radical with Al Qaeda’s African offshoot Al Shabaab, was executed April 4 by a rival terrorist.
The 28-year-old U.S. citizen joined Al Qaeda’s Somali affiliate five years ago and became its English-language mouthpiece.
His ability to target an American audience spooked U.S. counterterrorism officials, but his abysmal jihadi rap tunes, posted online, have generated more snickers than conversions.
Hammami took to the Web last month and said other jihadists may have marked him for death.
“I record this message today because I feel that my life may be in danger . . . because of differences that occurred between us regarding matters of Sharia and matters of strategy,” he said in the video.
Al Shabaab asserted on Twitter that all was well.
jstraw@nydailynews.com