Somalia’s Prime Minister Appoints Former Al Shabaab Spokesperson As Minister

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Prime Minister of Somalia, Hamse Abdi Barre, has appointed a new cabinet made up of 25 ministers, including Mujtar Robow, former spokesman and ‘number two’ of the jihadist organization Al Shabaab, who will occupy the portfolio of Religion.

Robow, 53, was arrested at the end of 2018, days before the elections for the presidency of the South-West Somalia region, and had been imprisoned since December 2018, according to the Puntland Post news portal.

The arrest of this former member of Al Shaabab – which triggered protests – came after the government of Mohamed Abdulahi ‘Farmajo’ accused him of “organizing a militia” in Baidoa, the capital of the southwestern region of the Bay, and of trying to “undermine stability”.

In 2017, he decided to lay down his arms and surrender to government forces after the United States offered a $5 million reward for his capture. Better known as ‘Robow’, Mujtar fell from grace in Al Shabaab in 2013.

The Somali prime minister, who gave a brief speech before the nominations, which include 56 members among the 25 ministers and 26 deputy ministers, Somali radio Radio Muqdisho reported.

Somalia is facing an increase in the number of attacks by the Islamist militia Al Shabaab, both in the capital, Mogadishu, and in other areas in the south of the country, which has led the new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, to promise that will focus its efforts on security during the first hundred days of its mandate.