From Yahoo News/McClatchy News:
NAIROBI, Kenya — Three Kenyan men who briefly fought for al Shabaab, the Somali insurgent group that claims ties to al Qaida , said that they were driven by the promise of money, not jihad.
"They promised me $300 a month," said Ali Abdi Ahmed , a 38-year-old with sunken cheeks who was recruited from the Kenyan town of Garissa early last year. At the time, he'd lacked steady work for several months, so he took the advice of a town elder and went to help fight Ethiopian forces in Somalia .
With its porous border and large ethnic Somali population, Kenya has become a major conduit for money, weapons and fighters for the Somali insurgency, and a place where injured fighters sometimes come to receive medical treatment.
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My Comment: If I was a betting man, I would say that the mass majority of these recruits do it for the money.