Friday, December 14, 2012
A man confessed to following orders from al-Shabaab in the assassination of Hiran region elders' union leader Sheikh Mohamud Sheikh Hussein last month, UN-funded Radio Bar-Kulan reported Wednesday (December 12th).
Mukhtar Hassan Mohamed confessed to officials from the Somali National Army and African Union Mission in Somalia, according to Beledweyne police chief Colonel Issack Ali Abdulle.
Al-Shabaab in Bulo Burde sent Mohamed to kill people closely affiliated with the government, Abdulle said, adding that al-Shabaab sympathisers harboured him and helped him commit the crime.
Hussein was shot and killed in Beledweyne on November 27th, one day after he was elected leader of Hiran region elders' union. Mohamed was arrested in Beledweyne shortly after.
The court remanded Mohamed to the local police for further investigation.