Somali insurgents return to Twitter
2013-02-04 16:12
Nairobi - Somalia's al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents have returned to
Twitter with a new account, less than two weeks since they were suspended after
posting photographs of a French commando they had killed.
"For what it’s worth, shooting the messenger and suppressing the truth
by silencing your opponents isn’t quite the way to win the war of ideas,"
read one of the messages on the new account, which opened late on Sunday.
Shabaab officials on Monday confirmed that the account, @HSMPRESS1, was
genuine.
Their previous English-language account was suspended last month, days after
posting grim photographs of a French soldier, and after threatening to execute
Kenyan hostages.
Twitter warns that accounts can be suspended if they violate its rules,
which include the publishing of "direct, specific threats of violence
against others", according to regulations posted on its website.
Users are also blocked if they use Twitter "for any unlawful purposes
or in furtherance of illegal activities".
The Shabaab used their old account - which had more than 20 000 followers -
for a series of exchanges with Kenya's army spokesperson, taunting the Kenyans
after they invaded southern Somalia to attack the Islamists.
Shabaab fighters are on the back foot in Somalia, reeling from a string of
losses as they battle a 17 000-strong African Union force as well as Ethiopian
troops and Somali forces.
