A reclusive figure with a love of poetry, Ahmed Abdi Godane became a feared jihadist, running assassination and bomb squads in Somalia.

The Pentagon says he was killed in an air strike on 1 September.

He rose to the helm of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in 2008 after a US air strike killed his predecessor Aden Hashi Ayro in a remote village in southern Somalia.

Also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair, Godane's ascent to power surprised some observers as he came from the breakaway northern region of Somaliland.

"His rise to power within al-Shabab is unparalleled and in many ways counterintuitive in the history of Somalia's political and military formations," Rashid Abdi, an East Africa analyst who specialises on al-Shabab, told the BBC.

"How did someone with no clan constituency in southern Somalia accumulate such powers and manage to command such following in a tribal country where clan loyalties and affiliation trump everything else?"

The answer probably lies in the fact that Godane was free of the clan rivalries which dominate southern Somalia, putting him in an ideal position to unite young Somalis under the banner of a hard-line Islamic ideology.

'Ex-accountant'

"He became Emir [an Arabic word for leader] of al-Shabab, a title that conferred him great spiritual clout. He became in effect the chief ideologue, custodian and interpreter of the 'pure' Salafi jihadi doctrine," Mr Abdi said.

The BBC Somali service's Mohammed Mohammed says Godane is fluent in Somali and Arabic, and has a reputation of being a fine orator and poet.

"When he talks, he uses poetry. One of his favourite poets is Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, dubbed the 'Mad Mullah' in the West but a big hero for Somalis because he fought against British colonial rule," he says.

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Ahmed Abdi Godane at a glance:

-US put $7m (£4m) bounty on his head in 2012

-Pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2009

-Became al-Shabab's top commander after US air strike killed his predecessor Aden Hashi Ayro in 2008

-Sentenced to death in absentia for 2008 attack in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa

-Studied in Sudan and Pakistan, where he became radicalised

-Said to have fought in Afghanistan

-Reputed to be a good orator and poet

-Also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair

Mr Abdi said that before Godane became a full-time jihadi, he worked as an accountant for a money transfer agency, gaining experience that would "serve him well" in later years.

It allowed him to use his insider knowledge of the-then nascent hawala system - a traditional form of Islamic banking which relies heavily on trust between individuals - "to channel money speedily and discreetly to the movement", he said.

Godane's exact date of birth is not known, but some reports say he was born in 1977 and had a difficult childhood - he is said to have spent time at an orphanage and his uncle was reportedly an alcoholic.

Nevertheless, he was bright and won scholarships to study Islam in Sudan and Pakistan, where he was heavily influenced by jihadi ideology in the 1990s.

From there, he is suspected to have crossed the border to Afghanistan to receive military training from al-Qaeda.

'Sword of Allah'

Godane first gained notoriety in 2008, when he was sentenced to death in absentia for the simultaneous bombing of the United Nations (UN) compound and Ethiopian embassy in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.

"He had been arrested prior to that, but released. The authorities did not know how dangerous he was," Mr Mohammed says.

"He is very focused on Islamic issues, and is said to have a good relationship with the top leadership of al-Qaeda. He featured in video tapes with al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and all finances are said to have come through him."

Godane led al-Shabab into a formal alliance with al-Qaeda in 2009, changing its focus from a purely local jihad to a regional one.

In 2010, it killed 78 people watching the football World Cup in Uganda's capital, Kampala - the first bombing by al-Shabab outside Somalia.

Last year, at least 67 people were killed when al-Shabab fighters took control of the upmarket Westgate shopping centre in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, for four days.

"I have been sent ahead of the hour with the sword so that Allah will be worshipped alone without partners," Godane said, in a video praising the Westgate attack.

Mr Abdi says Godane proved to be ruthless within al-Shabab as well, ordering his "Amniyat" assassination squad to kill his critics - including US jihadi Omar Hammami, known as al-Amriki, and his one-time mentor and friend Ibrahim al-Afghani.

Godane carried out the purge last year after the disgruntled al-Shabab members wrote to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, accusing him of being autocratic.

"[Godane] takes decisions in a secret fashion without legitimate known reasons," they wrote.

'Rattled'

The purge helped him strengthen his grip over al-Shabab, but it meant that he had also created many enemies in jihadi ranks.

Some of them may have turned into spies for the US, opening the way for the air strike which targeted his convoy in the Lower Shabelle region on 1 September 2014.

The US had put a $7m (£4m) bounty on his head in 2012, giving his enemies further incentive to collaborate with the US in efforts to hunt him down.

Somalia analyst Abdi Aynte said it was difficult to imagine al-Shabab remaining cohesive without his leadership.

"If confirmed, the death of Ahmed Godane could deal a major blow to al-Shabab and could be the beginning of the end," he said on his Twitter account.

"The irony is that Godane killed the would-be obvious successor, Ibrahim al-Afghani, in a major internal rift last year," he added.

GuyFawkes: Well this is nice, but it's hardly going to save Somalia or put an end to fundamentalist terrorism, even locally. Some psycho will step into Godane's smoking shoes, and shabab will get right back to slaughtering and maiming innocents, raping children, and all the other horrors they think their god commands.

So what really needs to be done is step up the attacks against shabab and all such groups. When they stop to cook dinner, crater the campsite, whether top leaders are there or not. It'd be nice if mainstream Islam could take care of this problem itself, but clearly it's not up for it, and it's not having its vital rational reformation quite yet. So in the meantime, all that can be done is bury every fundamentalist terrorist we see.

For Somalia as a whole, it'll probably take a combined international effort to get control of it, and then fund Ethiopia or Kenya so they can absorb the country and try to nurse it back to health. Unfortunately that probably won't happen, as Somalia is roughly completely worthless.

adamskutty: Where is his pictures nau? This guy bad pass shekau o

ArtanK:

In 2010, Alshabab controlled all of south and central Somalia including the 16 districts of the capital. Today they control less than 10% of the country and they are losing land every day. They've now turned to cowardly attacks and suicide bombings, so clearly we are getting something right here.

Mainstream Islam does address and condemn extremism on a daily basis but news like that don't make popular headlines as the ones where Muslims are the culprits of gruesome terrorist attacks.

We thank the AU soldiers for their help but tbf, they have decided to put down the gun, collect the hefty paychecks and enjoy the breezy beaches in Mogadishu as if they are on a holiday. I'd like to think that I speak for the SomalI people when I say that I can't wait till they leave in 2016.

What we need is unity and reconciliation. Entrusting them to improve the Somali nation when 90% of the Somali population harbour deep distrust and enmity towards these two countries is a stupid idea.
Somalia has the potential to become an African superpower, sadly it's neighbours see their downfall in that and they've been undermining it ever since it came to existence in 1960.

ArtanK:

EnlightenedSoul: @guyfawkes To be completely frank, the fact that you even suggested Ethiopia and Kenya be given funds to "nurse the country back to health" tells me all I need to know about what little you know (about the history, country, conflict, and region politics & ETC). Your hydra-headed monster observation of fundamentalism is spot on. I'd like to think of this as a center-head take out, he was pretty important.

Nobleval: The Somali militant
organization al-Shabaab has
appointed Ahmad Umar as its
new leader after the death in
a US air strike of Ahmed Abdi
Godane last week.In an announcement online late on
Saturday, al-Shabaab claimed
its new leader was
unanimously selected by its
senior members and vowed
to avenge the death of Godane. The sect also threatened to
step up its campaign of
violence inside Somalia and
abroad in a thinly-veiled
threat to the United States.

US jets had targeted and killed
Godane late on Monday. “By the permission of Allah,
you will surely taste the
bitter consequences of your
actions” the al-Shabaab
statement warned.

“Avenging the death of our
scholars and leaders is a
binding obligation on our
shoulders that we will never
relinquish nor forget no
matter how long it takes” it added.

Since Godane’s death, the
authorities in Somalia had
declared a state of alert ahead
of possible reprisals by al-
Shabaab whose militants still
control large swathes of territory in the south of the
country despite military
setbacks against African Union
peacekeepers in recent years.
Godane’s successor Ahmad
Umar who is also known as
Abu Ubaidah has been a
leading commander of the
militant movement although
nothing was known about his activities or whereabouts in
and outside Somalia.

http://en.starafrica.com/news/al-shabaab-unveils-new-leader.html

GuyFawkes:

Even ignoring the question whether the US - whose meddling in Somalia led to the replacement of the more moderate Islamic Courts movements by Al Shahab in the first place - has any right at all to kill people there, we should be clear that doing so is purely a symbolic act. In the US, it symbolizes the fake toughness of the imperial warrior, designed by the government to signify that it deals with the terror threat it simultaneously creates, exaggerates, and uses to instill fear and hence malleability in the domestic population. In Somalia and beyond, it symbolizes the arrogance of US power and control - and will thus encourage more people to support even the worst organizations if only they fight that power.

GuyFawkes:
He was very important but do you think it'll diminish al shabbab?

adamskutty: Yusuf! The donkeys have appointed a new leader

ArtanK:

It won't end them that's for sure but it will certainly weaken them.

I find it very odd that as soon as the big oil companies return to Somalia, everything seems to go the right way. Just a thought.

GuyFawkes:

You are right,maybe I don't know a thing about the history,politics,and conflicts of that region but my suggestions where written with a a bit of sarcasm in my mind,og course I know Ethiopia and Kenya have further escalated the conflicts at different times in the past and present.
This whole business of killing the leaders may be highly overrated. The Israeli's have been doing it since 1948, and they still have a terrorism problem.
The big risk, as we have seen with IS leader leader al-Baghdadi, is that the new boss may be more capable than the old boss. Just as in an American corporation, the guy at the top may be pretty old and stale, and some new guy who has been fighting his way up the ladder may be, not only far more capable, but more vicious as well.
He was very important but do you think it'll diminish al shabbab?

GuyFawkes:

That's true though about the oil,but you'll have to ask the chinese about that,they have everything to gain as they are the ones on ground ready to do some oil exploration.

ArtanK:

American companies such as Chevron, Conoco Phillips and ExxonMobil are there too, apparently they cut deals with Siad Barre before the civil war. Everyone wants a piece of this cake

GuyFawkes:
Unfortunately oil will only bring more conflicts just as it has in other parts of Africa,the next bunch of ' freedom fighters' are going to be fighting for resource control,who knows maybe al shabbab will join the party then as there's lots of money to be made.
Hence conflict is inevitable because that piece of cake never goes round.
But I expect the chinese to get most of the contracts to build up the infrastructure in Somalia they've been pretty good with that in African countries.

EnlightenedSoul: Artan, isn't so freakin' ironic how many of the AlShabab leaders are actually Landers?

ArtanK:

I know, a lot of people have been saying that Alshabab is funded by S/land because they benefit the most from the chaos in the south.
I find it very interesting how Alshabab kills religious leaders, government officials and civilians across all Somali lands apart from S/Land.

EnlightenedSoul:

Wow, you're right of course. I hadn't even thought of that smh

ArtanK:

Remember the terrorist attack in Djib City? The suspects were all from Hargeisa.