A Yemen-based group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has urged Somalia's insurgent group Al-Shabaab to help block U.S. shipments to Israel .

In a recording posted on the Internet on Monday, the groups' leader Saeed al-Shahri said the blockage could be accomplished if Al-Shabaab takes the control of Bab al Mandab, a narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea that separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa region.

"At such a time the Bab will be closed and that will tighten the noose on the Jews, because through it, America sustains them by the Red Sea...this would be a great victory," he said.

He thanked Al-Shabaab for its readiness to send militants to fight with Al-Qaeda in Yemen , urging it to continue with the fight against the African union troops which are shoring up the fragile UN-backed Somali government.

"We thank Al-Shabaab for its fight against the enemy (Amisom), we also urged them to widen the jihad," he said.

Al-Shabaab, which publicly pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda terror chief Osama bin Laden, controls large chunks of south-central Somalia but the strait is located along Somali shores of Puntland region -- far from the group's territory.

Last month, Al-Shabaab said its read to send fighters to Yemen to help the Al-Qaeda affiliate in its fight against the Sana’a government and the US.

GAROWE ONLINE