By Our Online Team

13^th Feb 2012:

Somalia’s Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which controls much of Somalia, has released a joint video with al-Qaeda announcing that the two groups have merged, the BBC has reported.

Al-Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair, said he “pledged obedience” to al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri.  During the 15-minute Arabic-language video posted on jihadist websites, Zawahiri said the move was “good news” for al-Qaeda.

The two groups have long worked together and foreigners are known to fight alongside Somali militants.  The announcement comes as al-Shabab is under pressure on several fronts.  Al-Shabab has lost ground in recent months but stages frequent suicide attacks in Mogadishu.

Africa Union troops supporting the forces of the UN-backed government have taken control of the capital, Mogadishu, while both Kenya and Ethiopia have sent forces into Somalia to push back the Islamists.  Al-Shabab, however, still controls many southern and central areas of the country.

Somalia analysts and correspondents however believe that al-Shabab’s policy of banning foreign aid agencies from areas it controls during the region’s worst drought in 60 years has lost the group some of its popular support.  The United Nations says that although the famine in Somalia is officially over, a third of the population still needs urgent feeding.

The BBC’s Somali editor Yusuf Garaad Omar says the merger of al-Shabab and al-Qaeda has the potential to change the dynamics of the conflict in Somalia.  Other analysts add that the announcement helps boost al-Qaeda after its leader Osama Bin Laden was killed last year.

“Al-Qaeda needs to project power and influence, particularly given its own operational impotence,” Australian analyst Leah Farrall told Reuters news agency.  He added that, “…Al-Shabab’s acceptance under the al-Qaeda umbrella probably came with permission from Zawahiri for the group to launch external operations against the West.”

A number of world leaders including President Yoweri Museveni are expected in the UK government on 23 February to try to find a political solution to Somalia’s problems as well as tackle piracy and extremism. END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.

This story was first published on www.bbc.co.uk