A radical¹ Somali Islamist group fighting to overthrow² the government in Somalia says it is exchanging fighters with rebels in Yemen.

一个试图推翻索马里政府的伊斯兰教徒激进组织声称其正与也门的反叛者交换兵力。

Islamists control large parts of southern and central Somalia

An al-Shabab spokesman told the BBC the group was sending forces to Yemen and receiving fighters in return because of its close links with the country.

Yemen has come under scrutiny³监视，详细审查 after last month's failed US airliner⁴班机，大型客机 attack was linked to militants⁵ in the country.

Al-Shabab controls swathes绷带，包装品 of southern and central Somalia.

Its ideology意识形态，思想意识 is based on a much more radical form of Islam than is traditionally practiced in Somalia, and the movement is accused of being an ally of al-Qaeda.

Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raage portrayed描绘，扮演 al-Shabab as no more than the organised arm of Islamic resistance to Western oppression.

He denied formal links with groups like al-Qaeda.

"What is al-Qaeda?" the Sheikh asked. "It is Muslim people who are massacred in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and other Islamic countries like Yemen."

A Muslim is the brother of other Muslims, he said, "so we and al-Qaeda share the Muslim faith and are fighting for freedom. That's all we share."

Sheikh Raage rules out talking to Somalia's Western-backed government, saying this can only take place when African Union forces present in the country leave.

He also warned that if American troops are ever sent to Somalia they will end up dead.

"They will suffer the same fate they did in 1993, when they were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu," he said.

Al-Shabab's message is one of unremitting不懈的，坚忍的 hostility敌意 to Somalia's government and any form of Western involvement in the country.

"We are on that road, and we will be on that road for the rest of our lives," said the sheikh族长，阿拉伯酋长.