US resident says he left al-Shabab due to its oppression

The arrest of the American comes amid signs of increasing tensions within al-Shabab between Somali and foreign fighters and over whether the insurgents should stay aligned with al-Qaida or should switch allegiance to the Islamic State group. The "ambitions" by some foreign fighters in al-Shabab to join the Islamic State group had led to them to be isolated within the Somali group and even face death at the hands of their erstwhile comrades-in-arms. He has been connected to a group of Twin Cities men recently charged with trying to join ISIL, and was among the second wave of Minnesota men of East African descent who joined Al-Shabab, Al-Qaida's offshoot in Somalia, in 2008. Jones is missing the index finger of his right hand, said the official.

"We caught a man whose body complexion was white with long beard, and when we introgated him he told us that he has escaped from Alshabab and was willing to surrender himself to the Somali government, he has identified his nationality as an American" said commissioner Mohamed.

On the lam for almost six years, an American fugitive suspected of "recruiting impressionable young men for terrorist groups including ISIS", has surrendered to law enforcement officials in Somalia, the State Department announced Monday.

The New York-based Counter Extremism Project applauded Hassan's arrest, calling him a "prolific jihadi propagandist and recruiter" who "created a broad social-media presence on Twitter and other social media platforms to recruit and incite violence for al-Shabab and ISIS".

Colonel Ali Dalel Hirsi, a military officer, said US citizen Malik John had surrendered to officials on the edge of Barawe, about 220km (135 miles) southwest from the capital Mogadishu. She said the U.S.is discussing the case with the Somali Federal Government, but noted that the US does not have an extradition agreement with Somalia.

He said the defections of the two Americans appear to be separate. "First of all, if I did any crimes I did not commit those crimes in America".

In recent months a dispute has broken out within Al Shebab over whether to maintain ties to Al Qaeda or switch allegiance to the Daesh terror group. He was killed in an ambush ordered by al-Shabab's leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was later killed in a USA airstrike a year ago. Although he said he joined Al-Shabab, he said he left in 2013 "because of the oppression that they are doing on the people, the way they are killing people, and the imprisonment of innocent people and the torture without no evidence at all".

Local officials in Somalia said they had never heard of Sandhere. While news of his arrest is important, Katz said, there are many others who are willing to take his place online.

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