Muhammad’s widow Aisha is said to have directed the forces fighting against Ali ibn Abi Talib from a camel in what became known as the Battle of the Camel, a war between the nascent Sunni and Shia parties, in the year 656. Perhaps Lewthwaite is emulating her. “White Widow Lewthwaite fomenting jihad in Somalia on back of a camel,” by Chris Kilpatrick for the Belfast Telegraph, December 27:
Samantha Lewthwaite, better known as the White Widow, is understood to be holed up in the Somali camp, where she is being protected by 800 al-Qaida allies.
It is believed Lewthwaite, who is the widow of one of the July 7 London bombers, has undergone plastic surgery, lost two stone in weight and changed her hair colour to avoid being recognised.
Lewthwaite is said to be a leader of Islamic terror group al-Shabaab, which carried out a massacre at a Kenyan shopping centre in September.
The al-Qaida-affiliated group killed 67 people in the massacre.
It is understood that afterwards she was transported over the Kenyan border to war-torn Somalia, where she has been spotted four times in recent weeks.
The most recent sighting came a fortnight ago when she was seen riding a camel into a snake-infested forest in Somalia.
Colonel Yasin Hiro of the Somali National Army told The Mirror: “She has been moving by camel. We think she is in the camps. We hope the snakes and scorpions like her.”
The 29-year-old mother-of-four converted to Islam in her teens. She is subject of an international arrest warrant, issued by Interpol.
East Kenya police commander Aggrey Adoli said: “We believe she is involved in the recruitment of jihadists and propagation of al-Shabaab and al-Qaida activities in the country with other like-minded individuals. Once we apprehend Samantha Lewthwaite she’ll have a lot of questions to answer.”…