| Sheikh Mukhtar Robow | |
|---|---|
| Amir of Al-Shabab | |
| In office 1 May 2008 – May 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Adan "Eyrow" |
| Succeeded by | Moktar Ali Zubeyr |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Somali |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (or Abu Mansur) (Somali: Sheekh Mukhtaar Rooboow, Arabic: الشيخ مختار روبوو) is a Somali rebel leader and spokesman for Somalia's Al-Shabaab.
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Robow was born in the 1960s in the Berdaale district of the Bay region in southern Somalia. He studied at a local Qur'anic school, and later continued his religious education in the mosques of Mogadishu as well as those of his home region. A member of the Rahanweyn clan (which is particularly well-represented in the Baidoa area), and more specifically of the Leysan sub-clan, Robow also studied Islamic law in the 1990s at the University of Khartoum in Sudan.
He subsequently returned to Mogadishu and worked for the Saudi Al-Haramain Foundation, which was later accused by the United States of having links with Islamic terrorists. Robow then taught Islamic education to orphans the foundation was looking after. His Arabic nickname "Abu Mansur" reinforces the theory that he has frequented Middle East radical Islamists.
Robow later served as the Deputy Commander of the Islamic Courts Union, which controlled much of the south of Somalia. A hardline and radical Islamist who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, Robow has been blacklisted by the United States as a terrorist leader (though this label has been challenged).[1]
Robow has appeared in videos with wanted American terrorist Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki.[2]
| Preceded by Adan "Eyrow" |
Amir of al-Shabaab (acting) 1 May 2008 – May 2009 |
Succeeded by Moktar Ali Zubeyr |