My son has joined al-Qa’ida’
Richard Kerbaj | October 01, 2007
THE mother of an Islamic jihadist, who the Australian Government believes was killed fighting alongside terrorists in Somalia, says her son is alive and working with al-Qa’ida.
Khadra Nimale’s son Ahmed Ali went missing in December in east Africa while fighting against the Ethiopian-backed Somalian military.
Ms Nimale said relatives in Somalia believed her 25-year-old son had changed his name and was working as an interpreter with al-Qa’ida.
She has broken her silence to tell The Australian that her son was radicalised by Melbourne-based hardline clerics.
* Are there any other ones?
She accused Mohammed Omran – the head of the fundamentalist Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah association, who believes Osama bin Laden is a “good man” – of turning Mr Ali into a hardliner.
Mr Ali went missing in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on December 22, two weeks after he arrived with his pregnant wife, Aisha, and one-year-old girl, Hafsa.
Mr Ali told his mother he was going to Dubai, where he and his family stayed for a week with friends before making the secret trip to Somalia. They have not spoken since.
On January 7, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Mr Ali’s death to The Australian.
But Ms Nimale said she refused to accept that he was dead because none of her relatives and government contacts back home had evidence to prove it.
She said her son began attending Sheik Omran’s classes with some of his friends about six years ago.
* Alright everybody: Lets blame the US, GWB and John Howard.
“He was talking all the time about Sheik Omran,” she told The Australian in an exclusive Arabic and English interview at her Braybrook home, in Melbourne’s west.
“I lost him,” Ms Nimale said as she cried.
She said Mr Ali would not have been radicalised had she and her 10 children remained in Somalia and not migrated to Australia in 1994, two years after her husband was killed in the African region while working as an army commander with the Somali Government.
“I wish I did not come to Australia because he got in trouble in this country … they (radicals) took my son.”
* Unlikely. In Somalia they teach from the same Koran and same sunnah. Besides, everyone runs around with AK 47′s and rocket lounchers. But it is true that Australia would have been better off without these refugees.
A spokesman for Sheik Omran rejected Ms Nimale’s accusations against the spiritual leader.
“Sheik Omran is a popular person for people to blame for everything,” said Abu Yusuf, who denied ever seeing Mr Ali at the cleric’s classes.
“If she has evidence (that Sheik Omran radicalised Mr Ali), provide it to the authorities to shut us down.”
* Standard procedure: Lie and deny. Intimidate and blackmail, if all fails, (try to) assassinate her…
Ms Nimale said relatives in Somalia told her al-Qa’ida had recruited her son as an interpreter because he spoke fluent English, and gave him a “secret al-Qa’ida name”, which she did not want published.
“The extremists in Somalia or maybe the terrorist in Somalia, al-Qa’ida, they need someone with (a good) education,” she said.
* There you go. Andrew Bolt comments: It confirms that the next generation of jihadists are at universities, not on production lines, and are privileged, not marginalised. We also find again that bringing in people from a tribalised nation radicalised by war carries significant risks. And then there’s the inevitable clash of cultures, which multiculturalism if anything worsens.
Ms Nimale, 48, said some relatives spotted Mr Ali working with the terrorist network several weeks after his wife, Aisha, gave birth to their son, Majahid (“holy warrior”) in mid-January.
Ms Nimale said she isolated herself from Melbourne’s Somali community following her son’s disappearance.
Ms Nimale was angered by some community figures who expressed their sense of pride following news of Mr Ali’s death while fighting jihad alongside the Islamic Courts movement.
“They said, ‘Your son go to jihad, he’s going to go to Jannah (Paradise)’,” she said. “I said ‘where is Jannah, where is heaven? Kismayo, or Mogadishu?”‘
Ms Nimale said her son embraced Wahabism – a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam espoused by bin Laden - shortly after the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
* She said Mr Ali would not have been radicalised had she and her 10 children remained in Somalia and not migrated to Australia in 1994
There’s a clue … instead of attempting to clone Kabul, Beirut & Mogadishu in suburban Oz, better to leave them where they are, & maybe help them to adjust to 21st century life in their own lands, if they want to. Thanks to Bob & Paul for another failed attempt at mixing iron & clay. Howard learnt nothing from past failure, except how to vilify Pauline; what lessons for Kevin & Peter to learn, or will they too blunder down the Road to Quagmiristan, without Bing & Bob to sing along. At least Peter talks the talk on no sharia here.
* “I said ‘where is Jannah, where is heaven? Kismayo, or Mogadishu?”‘
Noble Park, perhaps?
* … several weeks after his wife, Aisha, gave birth to their son, Majahid (”holy warrior”) in mid-January.
How long before Aisha returns to Oz, with Majahid (secret al-Qaida name?) to get a pension & a Housing Commission flat in Fitzroy?
How many more dollars will be thrown at Oz universities in pursuit of Islamic “excellence”?
I guess the one good thing is that Ahmed Ali went to Somalia to wage jihad; he could have stayed in Melbourne & got a job as a cabbie, demanding “prayer” rooms & wudu washers, while refusing to carry infidels with guide dogs & alcohol.
No matter what this mother’s motives are we need more people like her to come forward.
Let’s hope she’s just the first of many.
Ms Nimale was angered by some community figures who expressed their sense of pride following news of Mr Ali’s death while fighting jihad alongside the Islamic Courts movement.
“They said, ‘Your son go to jihad, he’s going to go to Jannah (Paradise)’,” she said. “I said ‘where is Jannah, where is heaven? Kismayo, or Mogadishu?”‘
Wonder who these ‘community figures’ are.
This woman needs a lot of support.
Many people have stated multi-cult doesn’t work, especially with people who don’t want to fit into their new environment.
I wonder if this is a classic case, but from the other perspective?There may be a lot more and possibly we will never be told about them. Tragic for the mother and I bet she isn’t the only one and will not be the last.
Still, I feel it gives the impression it is the fault of the host country when in reality it is the influence from within the Somali community.
Suggests to me also that some Middle Eastern immigrants would perhaps have do a lot better if their imams hadn’t gotten to them also. Just a thought,,,,
YOU WILL NOT WIN…ISLAM WILL BE SUPERIOR OVER ALL IDEOLOGIES INCLUDING YOURS, GO ON YOUR WORTHLESS MARCH>>>WE WILL BE THERE TOO>>TO FIGHT BACK AND MAKE LIKE THE BLOODY FOOLS YOU ARE.
YOU WILL NOT WIN…ISLAM WILL BE SUPERIOR OVER ALL IDEOLOGIES INCLUDING YOURS, GO ON YOUR WORTHLESS MARCH>>>WE WILL BE THERE TOO>>TO FIGHT BACK AND MAKE LIKE YOU THE BLOODY FOOLS YOU ARE.
“She has broken her silence to tell The Australian that her son was radicalised by Melbourne-based hardline clerics.
* Are there any other ones?”
- – – – -
Y’know, you’re right— I’ve never heard of a young Muslim man faithfully attending madrassa or mosque and announcing “I think I’ve been called by Allah to serve my fellow man: I’m going to go work among the poor, digging wells and showing them new husbandry techniques, so that they will have more food, maybe put a little money by for hard times, and so they can afford to send both their sons and daughters to school”.
Why do you suppose I’ve never heard of such a thing?
MM or whoever you are:
ain’t gonna happen. Islam will implode. Why?
Because the human being and all living things long to be free. Islam constrains its believers. It stunts their mental and spiritual growth. It ruins their creativity. No one wants to live like this.
You do it because you have been brainwashed by your imam – not because you came to this conclusion yourself.
Any culture founded on hate and destruction is doomed to fail, and fail it will.
Now,,take your threats away from here. You are a disgrace to humanity for even threatening people in this manner.
MM (a muslim),
You should repent. The real Lord God is a God of peace and forgiveness. He does not ask for bloodshed, as does your false god and his false prophet.
MM, ‘just’ keep in mind who started the bloodshed, the ‘fight back’ has not began and your numbers are tiny…
No my members are not “tiny”…you are the ones advocating hatred towards all Muslims..not just the few bad one and there unacceptable actions. And as for …sorry to disappoint but you are wrong…I am currently raising money for orphan’s…you know like the ones in IRAQ and Bosnia-Kosovo…but also many African/Asian countries. There in no such thing as a ‘holy war’…war cannot be holy…in Islam there is only one thing that has the word holy associated with and that is the Holy City of Jerusalem.
No my members are not “tiny”…you are the ones advocating hatred towards all Muslims..not just the few bad one and there unacceptable actions. And as for Gramfan …sorry to disappoint but you are wrong…I am currently raising money for orphan’s…you know like the ones in IRAQ and Bosnia-Kosovo…but also many African/Asian countries. There in no such thing as a ‘holy war’…war cannot be holy…in Islam there is only one thing that has the word holy associated with and that is the Holy City of Jerusalem.