Al-Shabaab 'classified documents' an amateur propaganda ploy

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

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Al-Shabaab's claim last week that it obtained classified documents from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's office in Mogadishu is the group's latest attempt to mislead the Somali people.

"The documents contain highly confidential information, including detailed intelligence reports, internal memos, planned operational details and other classified material," al-Shabaab's press office said in a statement released April 3rd via Twitter.

The group claimed that some of the documents it had retrieved include letters from an "influential Arab regime" to the Somali president telling him "to name certain individuals for specific posts within his government so as to facilitate better co-operation and sharing of intelligence between the two countries".

"We will publish some of the documents on Twitter in the coming hours and the rest will be published when deemed appropriate Insha-Allaah," the statement said.

Almost a week later, al-Shabaab has yet to post any such documents.

However, a document dated March 27th purportedly from the Qatar government suggesting that a Somali official be named head of intelligence operations was posted on a Somali news website March 30th. The authenticity of the document could not be verified, nor was it confirmed that it was one of the documents al-Shabaab claimed to have.

"Al-Shabaab is known for foul play and is now resorting to every conceivable dirty trick to mislead Somali public opinion," said Abdiwahab Mohamed, a Mogadishu-based political analyst and university lecturer.

The group cannot infiltrate government secrets, and the goal behind making such false claims is to raise the morale of al-Shabaab's dejected fighters, he told Sabahi.

"Al-Shabaab has always lied through spreading baseless claims," he said. "Its latest claims that it has obtained secret documents from the president's office is, in fact, part of the propaganda that this group has mounted against the Somali government."

Al-Shabaab 'divorced from reality'

Al-Shabaab's false claims of obtaining classified documents is proof that the group has grown weak in gathering intelligence and is now resorting to spreading lies and other desperate measures to save face, said Faisal Osman, a Somali political analyst who monitors the militant group.

"Al-Shabaab's claims of being able to reach the president's office are false and show the group's desperate attempts to divert attention from its successive losses on the ground," Osman told Sabahi.

"After al-Shabaab has been weakened militarily and defeated on the battlefields, it is seeking to show itself as a united and disciplined movement that has intelligence capabilities that should not be underestimated," he said. "In reality, however, it is very weak from an operational standpoint and in terms of gathering intelligence."

Abdirahman Mohamud, a political analyst who monitors fundamentalist groups, said al-Shabaab's false claims are a "heavy blow to the group's credibility".

"Those in charge of al-Shabaab's propaganda machine are extremely stupid since they could not even find out that this document, which they described as confidential and leaked from the office of the president, is actually one that had been posted days before on other Somali websites," he said. "This shows that these people are totally divorced from reality."

Ahmed Aden, a 58-year old cleric in Hiran, said al-Shabaab has long made a habit of lying in its media campaign, so no one believes the claims made by the militant group.

"The practices of al-Shabaab are beyond any logic as this group has become used to lying in a very bad way," Aden told Sabahi. "This kind of bad propaganda will backfire and no one will listen to the group."

The militant group has failed to win the hearts and minds of Somali people because it has continuously attacked innocent civilians in bomb explosions and targeted killings, he said.

"In the end, no one believes al-Shabaab's claims," Aden said.

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