#4 A search of the Rantburg archives using the term “Cabo Delgado“ yields the following:
10/29/2017: Locals called these raiders 'al-Shabaab'. Whether they call themselves this too, or whether it's because of their headgear and what they reportedly told locals after occupying MocÃmboa da Praia - that they rejected state health and education and refused to pay taxes - is not yet clear.
There was understandably speculation at first that they were linked to the Somali jihadist group of the same name. But Dina cast doubt on this interpretation from the start, as he said they spoke in local languages including Swahili and Portuguese. There now seems to be consensus that they are local Moslems. Eric Morier-Genoud, the Mozambican-born political scientist from Queens University, Belfast, wrote in The Conversation that this was a group of local Moslems formed in 2014 and calling itself al-Shabaab.
3/30/2018: in Mocimboa, the emergence of a radical faction in the Moslem community was widely known. "It started three years ago. Fifty or so young people from the town said that we weren't true Moslems," said Ussene Amisse, a teacher at a Koranic school.
"Some of them learnt these things in Somalia. It was when they returned that they started to cause problems."
Radicalized men told their followers not to send their children to school, not to vote and to disobey the authorities.
"They followed the example of fundamentalists in other countries," sighs Amadi Mboni, one of the town's religious leaders.
"We knew, we informed our authorities of the danger -- but we weren't able to prevent some of our children and grandchildren from joining them."
According to official statistics, 17 percent of Mozambicans are Moslem but Islamic leaders say the real figure could be double. In Mocimboa, more than half of the population is Moslem.
Frelimo, the ruling party since national independence, has long trumpeted the peaceful coexistence of different religions in Mozambique. But the country's north has largely been excluded from the economic growth of the last 20 years.
Many in the north also doubt that they will reap the rewards of the vast gas deposits recently discovered off the shores of Palma near Mocimboa.
In a region which sees itself as a neglected outpost, radical al-Shabaab-style ideology has found a receptive audience. |