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| Africa North |
| Ansar al-Sharia appears in Mauritania |
| 2013-06-28 |
| [MAGHAREBIA] Ansar al-Sharia ...an Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... is showing up on the streets of Nouakchott. Much like its eponymous peer in Tunisia, the Mauritanian group is calling for the application of Islamic law. This political arm of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was only able to gain a foothold in Arab Spring countries Tunisia and Libya after their revolutions, L'Authentique daily noted, so its appearance in Mauritania comes as a surprise. The Mauritanian Ansar al-Sharia "was established at the Dar Naim central prison, where most of its members are placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! for belonging to radical Islamic groups", the paper said. On Sunday (June 23rd), terror-linked salafist Khadim Ould Semane invited "all Mauritanians" to support the "Sharia application group", ANI quoted his placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! brother as saying. Another salafist inmate, Ahmed Salem Ould al-Hasan, founded the group "to combat secularists, make God's Sharia rule, and reinstate the scholars of the nation", according to ANI. "I'm launching this campaign to demand the application of God's Sharia because I believe in Salafist ideology that contradicts with secularism and democracy," al-Hasan told the news agency from prison. It is not just placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! salafists who are drawn to the Islamist movement. Imams from myrmidon mosques and a few politicians have joined the group in demanding the application of Sharia in Mauritania. The latest Ansar al-Sharia event was held last Friday in Nouakchott. "We don't notice that people are alarmed about the demand to apply Sharia at a time when same-sex people demand to be licensed to engage in their activities," Imam Manou Ould Mohamed of al-Shorofa mosque said in his Friday sermon. "We don't desire to have any posts or responsibilities, but we're just demanding that our government apply God's Sharia on us," Cridem quoted Ould Mohamed as telling worshippers. "We're ready to sacrifice our own money, bodies and minds to realise that." Ahmedu Ould Lemrabott Ould Habib al-Rahman, Mauritania's mufti and imam of the Grand Mosque, reacted strongly to Ansar al-Sharia's request. "I say to those who are demanding the application of Sharia that they must distance themselves from political movements and purposes, politicians, manoeuvres, demonstrations and calculations," he said. "I've told them that the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice must remain distant from politics," he said in his sermon last Friday. The emergence of Ansar al-Sharia is raising fears that the experience of Tunisia and Libya could be repeated in Mauritania. "Tunisia's salafists have influenced their peers in Mauritania, as the Mauritanian salafists found the courage to take to streets as well under the pretext that they aren't less than their peers in Tunisia," sociology researcher Ya'cub Ould al-Mostafa told Magharebia. Ansar al-Sharia in Mauritania is exploiting citizens who do not dare criticise those who speak in the name of religion for fear of being accused of kufr, he said. "Therefore, I think that the security authorities are avoiding festivities with them for fear of raising sensitivities," Ould al-Mostafa said. In turn, youth expert Omar Ould Ahmed said: "With their extremism and fatwa, those people have killed the spirit of innovation and volunteerism, and they now prohibit music, theatre and cinema." "I think that the suitable reaction to Ansar al-Sharia is to organise counter campaigns among youth. We must express our rejection of the Tunisian and Libyan experiences," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Political [not Military?] arm of the AQIM" > well there ya go. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-06-28 01:37 |