Somali extremists intend to target moderate Muslims who speak out against terror, including Mo Ansar, one of the Muslims credited for turning the EDL's Tommy Robinson away from his far-right group.
The activist and broadcaster, who is filming a BBC documentary with Robinson, revealed on Friday that he was under police protection after being warned he could be targeted by members of the Somali militant group al-Shabaab.
Mo Ansar is being protected by police after threats
The threat comes from a video posted online called The Woolwich Attack: An Eye for an Eye. The film is an hour long, narrated by a man with a British accent, and points the finger at several prominent Muslims who have taken a stand against jihadists.
Ansar told the Guardian police were now regularly patrolling his residence and were making contact by phone every hour.
Al-Shabaab is an armed group of mostly young adherents in Somalia with links to al-Qaeda. The group currently operates in southern Somalia, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu. They were responsible for the terror attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, where terrorists killed more than 60 people.
Iman Ajmal Masroor said he had also been visited by police, concerned he was under threat.
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The iman posted on Facebook that he had been at home, with his children asleep, when he was visited by police. "I do not get shaken that quickly and fear does not absorb me swiftly," he said.
"The basic message was that my life was in imminent danger from the terrorists. The police officers were visiting me to give me a warning and asking me to be more vigilant. They were being the messengers. They left me a telephone number to call in case of emergency or if I felt under any immediate danger. They did not give me any further details and left me guessing."
Masroor said he then found the video on the internet. "In it they name me as a Muslim who is an enemy of Islam and should be eliminated. They name a few others in their video message and encourage people to resort to using knives to behead people like me.
"My reaction is simple – if my death has been destined at a particular place, in a particular way and at a particular time, there is nothing in the world that can alter or avert it.
"Conversely if my life has been destined to run for a specific period there is no power in the world that can shorten it. I shall continue doing what I believe is right and true despite threats and I shall speak out loud and clearly against extremism and terrorism no matter how many threats I receive.
"Ultimately the extremists would run out of steam and the terrorists would fizzle out, but moderation, fairness and truth will always prevail."
Usama Hasan, one of anti-extremism experts at the Quilliam Foundation, was also warned he features in the video. "The video is idiotic but also chilling in many ways. This guy has a British accent and he is using the language of fascism about the deaths of kuffar [non-believers]," he told the Guardian.