Geezers.
(Daily Mail) — Somalia’s Al-Shabaab terrorist group has changed its name from ‘The Lads’ in an attempt to project a more mature image.
The military group, which is responsible for killing thousands in Somalia’s 20-year civil war, announced the name change this week.
It will now call itself Imaarah Islamiya (The Islamic Authority), the Somalia Report news service said.
Al-Shabaab is suspected of being behind the kidnap of Briton Judith Tebbutt, 56, from a Kenyan island resort in September.
Mrs Tebbutt’s husband, David, 58, was shot dead during the kidnap, which happened after bandits landed by boat at the resort near Somalia’s border with Kenya.
Mrs Tebbutt’s whereabouts are still not known.
Two Kenyan men — Ali Babitu Kololo, 25, and Issa Sheikh Saadi, 37 — were charged in connection with the kidnapping and shooting.
Mukhtaar Robow, a spokesman for the group said: ‘Al-Shabaab means “youth” but many of us, including the leaders, are very old so we want to change the name to Imaarah Islamiya.
The announcement came after the militant group held a week-long meeting at Baidoa in the war-torn country’s south west.