A senior foreign Al-Shabaab militant has quit, citing numerous differences within the rogue Al-Qaida associated group. Zubair al-Muhajir, a Briton who was initially from Ivory Coast, is now being hosted by the government of Somalia.
According to Investigative Dossier, a program aired by VOA, Muhajir defected from the group last year in October, after serving three years in Al-Shabaab prison.
He had been arrested by the Amniyat, the Al-Shabaab Intelligence group, after a fallout with his bosses.
"I defected because al-Shabab, they are lying to the Muslims and to the world,” he said.
“They are claiming to implement the Sharia (Islamic law) which is not true because I know from incidents where they went against the Sharia. He says the group uses Sharia just to “betray the people, fool them, and lie to them,” he added.
According to him, the group has been lying to people in the pretext of defending Islam, adding that many people have fallen victim.
"The reality of their actions is totally against their Sharia – they are killing innocent people and they are lying to the people.”
But in return, he said, the Al-Shabaab militants have been coming back to his small businesses, asking for Zakat, a tax imposed on people based on their wealth.