Al-Qaida-linked Somalis break with courts

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- One of the most important al-Qaida linked Somali jihadist groups has severed its ties to the Islamic Courts Union, the coalition that used to rule the country.

In a "Message to the Mujahedin ... and to the Muslims in General," posted on the Web, a leader of the group Shebab al-Mujahedin said it was renouncing the Islamic Courts Union.

The message accused the union of favoring nationally based alliances with secularly based Somali parties over partnership with other Muslims, according to the blog of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

It also said the union was focusing on national goals for Somalia and ignoring the global aims of the jihadist movement, such as the establishment of a worldwide caliphate.

The institute blog said the message was posted on the Ekhlaas Jihadist Web site and signed by Abu Mansour Al-Amriki, the alias of an American who serves as a military trainer of mujahedin in Somalia.

The Shebab group has attracted the attention of U.S. counter-terrorist officials because its leader, Aden Hashi Farah Ayro, was trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion and maintains links with the group, according to the International Crisis Group, a non-profit that monitors the world's conflict zones.

The message accuses the Islamic Courts Union leadership of restricting the actions of the non-Somali mujahedin who have come to help them in their fight, and of trying to direct the jihad from hotel rooms in Eritrea.

The message concluded by stating the group remained loyal to the ideology of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the institute said.