Abubakar Shekau, who was replaced by Islamic State as Boko Haram’s leader has spoken out about the news, claiming that he was betrayed and denouncing his purported new leader as an infidel.
He said this in an audio message, his first in over one year, after IS on Tuesday published an interview with Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi in its Al-Naba online weekly magazine in which he was introduced as Boko Haram’s new leader.
In the interview, Barnawi talks about the history of jihad in this region but makes no clear reference to Shekau.
Since March 2015, Barnawi has appeared in several videos distributed by Boko Haram, claiming responsibility for successive attacks, earning him the reputation of group spokesman, experts say.
But in his message, Shekau takes aim at Barnawi, dismissing him as an infidel who condones living in an un-Islamic society without waging jihad.
And in a tacit acknowledgement that his own position as leader may have been usurped, he speaks of being tricked by some of his followers.
“They deceived me,” he said.“And now I find myself being forced to follow another character who practices disbelief,” he says, in a message which becomes increasingly more animated as he speaks.Punch
Like Us on Facebook!
0 comments:
Post a Comment