A court in Turkey has convicted the son of Somalia’s president for the death of a motorcycle courier, but commuted his sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison to a fine.

Prosecutors had requested that Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the son of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, be sentenced to up to six years in prison.

On Tuesday, the Istanbul court fined him 27,300 Turkish lira ($900), state media reported. Mohamud was not present in court. His driver’s licence was also revoked for six months.

Mohamud was charged with “causing death by negligence” after a diplomatic car he was driving hit courier Yunus Emre Gocer in Istanbul on November 30.

An arrest warrant was issued for Mohamud after Gocer died six days later, but the president’s son had already left Turkey on December 2.

Mohamud reportedly returned to Turkey last week to testify. The arrest warrant and a travel ban imposed on him were revoked after he gave a statement to court officials, and was then released, the DHA news agency reported.

He denied negligence, saying that the motorbike stopped suddenly and that the crash had been unavoidable.

The police report, however, said that Gocer, a father of two, did not violate any traffic rules and that the car driver was primarily at fault.

Gocer’s father was planning to appeal the decision to commute the sentence, his lawyer Tugba Aydin told reporters after the hearing.

“The life of a motorcycle courier cannot be worth 27,000 Turkish lira when the other side is 75 percent at fault,” said Mesut Ceki of the Courier Rights Association. “So what happened? Is this justice?”

Prison sentences are occasionally converted to fines in Turkey’s judicial system.

Gocer’s death had threatened to sour friendly relations between Turkey and Somalia.

The Somali president said last month that his son, who is a doctor, did not flee Turkey and that he had told him to present himself to court.

“Turkey is a brotherly country,” the president had said. “We respect the laws and the justice and the judicial system. As a president of Somalia, I will never allow anybody to violate this country’s judicial system.”

Turkey has sought to increase its footprint in Somalia in the past decade and is the Horn of Africa nation’s leading economic partner, particularly in the areas of construction, education and health.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Wednesday January 17, 2024

A suicide bomb blast in Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu killed three people and injured two others, Somali authorities said on Tuesday, with the militant group al Shabaab claiming responsibility for the attack.

While being pursued by police, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Al Hindi restaurant in Mogadishu’s Hamar Weyne district, police spokesman Sadik Ali said.

The al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab group said in a statement that the blast had targeted local security officials. It said there were casualties, without providing a number.

Al Shabaab frequently attacks military outposts and civilian and government targets as part of a campaign to topple Somalia’s government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Bernadette Baum

Wednesday January 17, 2024

Police at the Kenya-Somalia border intercepted a Tanzanian national who was allegedly headed to join the terror group al Shabaab.

The 22-year-old was nabbed at the Liboi border as he walked towards Somalia direction on January 13.

He said he was headed for Dhobley in Somalia, which is under the control command of the terror group.

Preliminary interrogation indicated he entered Kenya through the Lungalunga border crossing point on January 10, 2024.

He said he was going to Somalia for the first time.

He provided conflicting reasons for heading to Somalia and the passport had an endorsement of a Kenyan visa of six months, which prompted police to detain him.

A search was conducted of his two small bags and recovered religious literature both Islamic and Christian, five Tanzanian sim cards, one phone with Safaricom sim cards, and a Tanzanite debit card.

He was handed over to anti-terror police for grilling.

This is the latest arrest to be made in the area involving a foreigner.

Police say collaboration between security agencies and the local population in the North has gained traction and the locals are now more open and free to share information with the local authorities.

The public has also been urged to be vigilant at all times and report to the police any suspicious persons, activities and unattended luggage.

Police said there is a trend that they have noted with recruits travelling to join either al Shabaab or Daesh, that they are provided with travel arrangements avoiding communications while on the way or asking people about the route to avoid raising suspicion.

The security agencies further cautioned Public Service Vehicle operators to be alert and share any information on the movement of suspicious foreigners.

“The ongoing war against terrorism by the security agencies continues to frustrate the recruitment and facilitation of recruits destined to Somalia to join al-Shabaab,” a police report said.

Wednesday January 17, 2024

(CN) — The White House said Tuesday that it opposes an agreement between Ethiopia and a breakaway region of Somalia, raising concerns the deal could lead to instability and hinder international counterterrorism efforts.

John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications for the National Security Council, told reporters that the potential recognition of Somaliland by Ethiopia “threatens to disrupt the fight” against al-Shabab, an independent affiliate of al-Qaida.

“We’re certainly troubled now by what’s reportedly included,” he said of the agreement. “We support Somalia’s sovereignty and their territorial integrity, and it’s got to be respected.”

Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding Jan. 1 that reportedly would allow Ethiopia to develop a naval base on Somaliland’s coast in exchange for official recognition of the region as an independent state.

While the news has sparked tensions, there’s som confusion about the deal’s exact content, because the full text hasn’t been made public. Somaliland leaders have trumpeted it as granting official recognition, while Ethiopian officials have said it only provides a framework for taking a position on the region.

Ethiopia has long sought access to the Red Sea since it became landlocked after Eritrea won its independence in 1991. That same year, Somaliland broke away from Somalia, and, although it has operated as a de facto independent state with its own currency, government and diplomats, it is not formally recognized by any country.

Somalia has threatened to go to war to stop Ethiopia from recognizing Somaliland’s sovereignty. The imbroglio raises the specter of more instability in the Horn of Africa, particularly for Somalia, which has faced decades of instability and is plagued by al-Shabab’s insurgency.

“We don’t believe that the region can afford any more conflict,” Kirby said. “We don’t think this MOU is moving in the right direction.”

The United States has taken a keen interest in defeating al-Shabab and provided more than $500 million in military aid to Somalia between 2010 and 2020, mostly to fight the group. The radical Islamic group took control of the capital, Mogadishu, around 2006 and wasn’t pushed out of the city until a joint Somali-Ethiopian offensive, with U.S. support, in 2011 and 2012.

Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. military out of the country in 2021, but President Joe Biden redeployed troops in 2022. About 450 U.S. troops are based in the country, providing support, training and drone strikes.

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in 2022 announced a “total war” on al-Shabab with the goal of eliminating the group from the country, but has met with limited success. A war with Ethiopia threatens to divert attention from the terrorist group, allowing it to strengthen, Kirby said.

“Al-Shabab remains a viable terrorist threat in the region without question,” Kirby said. “[The MOU] certainly could impact national security interests in the region.”