Robow declined to comment on the number of foreigners or the size of Shabab's militia. One analyst recently estimated its forces at 1,000 to 3,000 fighters.
Robow also spoke for the first time about eventually expanding Shabab's activities outside Somalia's borders, saying Americans, even journalists and aid workers, were not immune from attack because of what he called "the aggression of the American government."
"Once we end the holy war in Somalia, we will take it to any government that participated in the fighting against Somalia or gave assistance to those attacking us," he said.
Analysts say such talk highlights a growing radicalization of Somalia's Islamists. Although Somalia has long had hard-liners, most of the population practiced a moderate form of Islam, and even extremists limited attacks to inside the country or against Ethiopia, a longtime rival.
But some worry a more radical agenda in Somalia has been aided by U.S. counter-terrorism efforts during the last two years, including half a dozen airstrikes against suspected terrorist targets that often killed civilians.
Somalia's citizens are also outraged by the ongoing occupation of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops, who came in 2006 to defeat a short-lived Islamic government that had taken power largely with help from Shabab fighters.
"For Al Qaeda, the projection seems good now," said Richard Barno, counter-terrorism analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, noting that Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government has been weakened by infighting.
But Barno cautioned that Al Qaeda still faced resistance from Somalia's major clans, which so far have been less interested in radical anti-Western attacks and frown upon Al Qaeda's signature large-scale attacks, particularly when they result in civilian casualties. Clan leaders also have been reluctant to send their men to fight with Al Qaeda outside Somalia, he said.
"Any moving to Al Qaeda might alienate the clans," Barno said. "And they can't afford to do that because the clans provide their foot soldiers."
Robow said Shabab's roots lay with the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre's military regime in 1991, the last time Somalia had a functioning government. With help from a team of fighters sent by Bin Laden, he said, future Shabab leaders cut their teeth killing U.S. forces in 1993, including the downing of a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter, which led to the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers.
U.S. intelligence agencies took note after the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Somalia's Islamic hard-liners were accused of harboring the Al Qaeda operatives who executed the attacks.
Ambassador Ranneberger asserted that U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, combined with efforts by Ethiopia and Kenya, have diminished the Al Qaeda threat and thwarted several plots. "They are still a threat, but clearly their network and operations have been degraded," the ambassador said.
But Robow said U.S. counter-terrorism efforts over the last two years have only strengthened his group. "I'm telling you," he said, "the more Americans move against us, the more popular we become."
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edmund.sanders@latimes.com
