Hasan Dahir Aweys, who had previously criticized Al-Shabaab for supporting Osama Bin Laden, welcomed publicly for the first time the merger of the two rivals.
“I am very happy with the unification of Somalia’s Islamists,” Aweys told reporters in Afgoi, 30 km south of the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu.
“I urge Somali Islamists to double the Islamic Jihad.”
Aweys wore a black suit and a red head cover, usually preferred by Al-Shabaab, rather than his usual white headgear, worn by Hizbul Islam followers.
While Hizbul Islam and Al-Shabaab have often fought together against the government in Mogadishu, they were rivals — until their merger last week — in other parts of Somalia.
Hizbul Islam was founded in February last year as an umbrella organization of four groups led by Aweys, a cleric who has been an influential figure among Islamists.
Al-Shabaab said last Thursday it would step up attacks against Uganda and Burundi for having their troops in Mogadishu as part of the African Union peace force AMISOM, which is trying to bring stability to the anarchic country.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala on July 11, which killed 79 people watching the World Cup soccer final on television.
It was Al-Shabaab’s first attack outside Somalia and heightened concerns about its ability to carry out more attacks in the region and beyond.
