Al-Arabiya TV discusses Al-Qa'idah recruitment of child suicide bombers

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Al-Shabaab in Somalia

 

May 31, 2008

 

Al-Arabiya Television at 1940 gmt on 27 May carries within its daily "Panorama" programme an interview with Hasan Abu-Haniyah, researcher in the Islamist groups affairs, via satellite from Amman; and Dr Azzah Kurayyim, teacher of sociology in the Egyptian National Research Centre for Social and Criminal Affairs, via satellite from Cairo, by anchorwoman Muntaha al-Ramahi.

 

Anchorwoman Al-Ramahi begins by saying: "Al-Qa'idah's policy of recruiting children to carry out suicide bombings raises several question marks. The first is how Al-Qa'idah officials convince children of killing themselves in suicide bombings against civilians in Iraq. The second is over whether the Iraqi Government and the US forces in Iraq have been able to break the Al-Qa'idah's backbone and dismantle it as an organization in Iraq. If this is true, then Al-Qa'idah has no choice but to resort to this option. The third is over the fate of the so-called Arab mujahidin, who were carrying out such operations."

 

TV correspondent Majid Hamid adds: "Children under 15 carry arms, hide their faces with masks, and chant God is great, signalling the establishment of a new Al-Qa'idah organization called: The Young Men of Paradise. The goal of the organization is to carry out bombing operations against the prominent leaders of the Awakening Council. The new organization has recently carried out the so-called Al-Tarimiyah operation. This strategy came two years after the organization left its former strongholds, including the Al-Anbar Governorate. The organization has succeeded in assassinating the founder of the Awakening Council, Shaykh Abd-al-Sattar Abu-Rishah, late in 2007 in a suicide attack. The new organization consists of groups of children, with each group including five children between 11 and 13. Information indicates that their leaders take refuge in remote fields, like Al-Taji and Al-Tarimiyah, for training purposes. They also conduct activities in the troubled Governorate of Diyala and the city of Mosul but have recently deployed in the Al-Amiriyah and Al-A'zamiyah areas. The Young Men of Paradise have joined the convoy of women suicide bombers, who have stepped up their operations over the past three months, especially in the Diyala and Baghdad governorates. The best example is the recent suicide bombings in the Al-Ghazl market in Baghdad. Observers believe that Al-Qa'idah uses children because they are not known to the security apparatuses and can reach their targets unnoticed. The tribal norms in Iraq do not allow the search of women."

 

Analyst Sa'd al-Hadithi is seen telling the TV correspondent that "armed groups recruit children easily because of their lack of cultural and intellectual immunity."

 

The correspondent also says: "The Al-Qa'idah Organization has reportedly established a battalion of children suicide bombers called the Al-Qa'idah Cubs in 2006 to make up for the shortage of foreign fighters in the Arab Al-Jubur and Al-Dura areas south of Baghdad. The battalion is under the command of Abu-Hamzah al-Iraqi, who has replaced Abu-Anas al-Shami. This shows that women and children in the calculations of Al-Qa'idah are the latest group of its fighters and that the Al-Qa'idah's leaders are preparing for a new stage with a different form and substance."

 

Asked how a 15-year-old child can be persuaded to carry out a suicide bombing, Kurayyim says that "children can be persuaded easily to carry out such operations."

 

Asked if these children are persuaded by their relatives in the Al-Qa'idah Organization, Kurayyim says that "this may be true," but that "any one can persuade them that they are recruited to perform heroic deeds in the service of the homeland and religion."

 

Asked on whether poverty is one reason behind the easy recruitment of children, Kurayyim says that "even a non-poor child can be tempted and persuaded that such operations are considered heroic deeds."

 

Asked if these children have no families, Kurayyim says that "the families of many children lack awareness and the ability to protect their children."

 

Asked why Al-Qa'idah uses children in this way, Abu-Haniyah says that "it is not unusual for Al-Qa'idah and most of the other movements revolving round it, such as Taleban and the Salafi jihadist movements in Somalia or Sudan, to recruit children." He says that "what is new is that Al-Qa'idah has recently begun recruiting large numbers of children in Iraq probably because of a shortage of men as a result of the recent operations to tighten the noose on it." He also says that "violence, poverty, unemployment, and the government's inability to do its duty towards the children and the society have produced this phenomenon" and that "more than 50 per cent of Iraq's children do not go to school." Therefore, "the atmosphere of panic, death, and arrests has also contributed to this issue," he says, adding that "the US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are holding more than 1,500 children in prison," and that "Al-Qa'idah is expected to recruit more and more children."

 

Asked on whether Al-Qa'idah recruits children because of a shortage of men or wants to expand itself, Abu-Haniyah says that "Al-Qa'idah and similar organizations are now recruiting Iraqi children, who have been deprived of their cultural, civil, political, and social rights."

 

Asked how Al-Qa'idah can persuade a child to carry out a suicide bombing operation and kill himself, Abu-Haniyah says that "children have been brought up in an atmosphere of violence and war," that "there are more than 4 million orphans in Iraq," and that "members of the families of numerous children in Iraq are also being held in prison." As a result, "a child can be easily persuaded," he says, adding that "the situation in Iraq is open to violence as a result of the government's failure to do its duty towards children."

 

Asked how Al-Qa'idah can be prevented from recruiting children in Iraq, Kurayyim says that "children admire men, who defend the homeland and perform heroic deeds."

 

Source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic 1940 gmt 27 May 08

[Fabregas]

Iraqi is a broken society, in which these things have become the norm! What is happening in Iraq is a tradey! And you, Mr Kore, just spotted a few lines about Somalia Islamists, a picture OF Alshabaab, and then attempt to use thE suffering of Iraqis as political propoganda for the EThiopians/TFG!

[Jacaylbaro]

Horta who is worse:

 

The one who is giving those children weapons and giving the trainings.

 

OR

 

 

The one who is simply killing them by mortars, cruise missiles and air bombings ??

[General Duke]

The ones usuing child soldiers are worse.

In Somalia they sit in Asmara and send children to kill and be killed.

[Jacaylbaro]

and in Somalia, those gangs sit in the Villa Somalia and send missiles and mortars to kill the children in their houses and schools.