Al-Shabaab's New Recruitment Video

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Al-Shabaab's New Recruitment Video

Al-Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group that has recruited members in several U.S. cities, has broadened its appeal in a new recruiting video. "O' Muslim youth around the world, do not forget the call of your brothers in Somalia, as their

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Al-Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group that has recruited members in several U.S. cities, has broadened its appeal in a new recruiting video. "O' Muslim youth around the world, do not forget the call of your brothers in Somalia, as their condition calls out, 'O' emigrants, O' emigrants. So is there anyone to respond?" said the voice of Shaykh Saleh Al-Nubhani, also known as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, the deceased leader of Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group that has recruited members in several U.S. cities, has broadened its appeal in a new recruiting video.

"O' Muslim youth around the world, do not forget the call of your brothers in Somalia, as their condition calls out, 'O' emigrants, O' emigrants. So is there anyone to respond?" said the voice of Shaykh Saleh Al-Nubhani, also known as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, the deceased leader of Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab's latest recruitment video, "An Invitation to the Lands of Jihad and Ribat," is dubbed in English and Somali to resonate with Muslim youth abroad. Although this is not Al-Shabaab's first video appeal to attract foreign fighters, it shows a new emphasis on targeting vulnerable youth from the Somali exile as well as East African nationals inspired by Al-Shabaab's vision of an Islamic state.

It's also not a call to liberate the country from the Ethiopian army invasion in 2009, a cause that had broad appeal among many groups of Somalis, or a typical al-Qaida style video calling for attacks on America. Such clips have been released by American Al-Shabaab recruiter, Omar Hammami, for several years now. In combination with personal recruiting, these videos have drawn Somali youth from as far as Minnesota and Australia. However, they have been limited to audience that is already drawn to the message of jihad.

The new clip represents a different tactic, one that broadens the appeal of a life of jihad to a new audience. The clips of military training and triumphant victory parades are also overlaid with fighters from all over the world calling out to their religious brothers in English, Swedish, Swahili and many other languages. They talk about defending the rights of Muslims, but not of bringing the fight to America's shores. They also talk about creating an ideal society based on Islamic law. However, despite differences in the speakers' languages and presentation, the overall message is consistent. The West is fighting a war against Islam and Somalia needs help at the frontline.

"What are you waiting for O' youth?" Al-Nubhani said on the video. "If you do not fight Jihad today then when will you? O Muslim youth, free your brothers from the darkness of oppression and the brutality of the enemy blows. Search for death and you will attain life. Come to jihad, you will gain honor in this life and the next."

The appeals to fight against the enemies of the Muslims in Somalia have already drawn young men from a variety of places and communities. In particular, the effect on the Somali Diaspora community has been persuasive, where dozens of youth have abandoned their adopted nationalities and returned to protect their ancestral homeland.

This video takes recruiting Somali exiles and foreigners to a new level.

Al-Shabaab's current spokesman, Ali Mohammad Rage, welcomes those fighters who have already arrived and praises them as family. "Allah has blessed us out of His bounty with a handful of noble Muhajireen, emigrants," he declares. "We rejoice at their arrival and are happy to honor them… we pledge to Allah to protect them with our blood, and to carry them upon our shoulders, and protect them from that which we protect ourselves and our families."

Islamist warrior Abu Dayana* also pulls on the heartstrings of other English speakers, laying out the significance of the fight in a thick British accent. His speech is, above all, a personal declaration. "I'd like to take my time to talk about the blessings of living in the land of jihad," he preached. "First of all, before some of us came here, we were living in a society where people were enslaved by their desires... then Allah guided us in coming to this land, so we may have a part in establishing a society where the laws of Allah will be implemented." For him, Somalia was an Islamist paradise, "a place where our freedom and wealth won't be taken away from us because of our