Al-Shabab Publicly Executes Two Girls ‘Spies’
Mogadishu, Somalia
Somali Islamist fighters Al-Shabab have publicly executed two teenage girls in the central Somali town of Beledweyne on charges of spying, reports said.
The two young women were said to have been shot by a firing squad on Wednesday after being convicted to death for what the hard-lined Islamist group termed ‘as enemies of Islam’.
Al-Shabab regional commander Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas told the crowd after the execution that the two young women were found guilty of spying for the Ethiopian and Somali governments.
Ali Ugas conferred that the two confessed of their crime after long investigation, adding that there were several others held at Beledweyne police station on same charges and would face the same fate.
The two women were named by AP news agency as Ayan Mohamed Jama, 18 and Huriyo Ibrahim, 15, though reports suggest they may have been older.
The execution of the two who were believed to be school girls has attracted huge condemnation, sending a wave of shock amongst residents who witnessed the execution.
The central government’s information minister Abdirahman Omar Osman termed the execution in his statement as yet another human rights abuse, which does not have any Islamic or humanitarian Justifications.
The Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab has been fighting since 2007 to depose the United Nations-backed transitional government. It controls parts of the capital, Mogadishu and vast regions in the south where it continues to impose harsh forms of Islamic laws.
Somalia has never had a functional government since ousting of dictatorial leader Siad Barre in 1991. Years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to deaths of over one million people.
Kigali, Rwanda
‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero to be Charged with Terrorism
A senior prosecutor in Rwanda is considering filing terror charges against a former hotel manager in Rwanda who saved hundreds during the 1994 genocide by helping fund a Hutu rebel group. Country’s prosecutor general Martin Ngoga said Paul Rusesabagina-whose actions inspired the Oscar nominated ‘Hotel Rwanda’ film-had helped finance terrorist activities in Rwanda by funding commanders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels.
Mr. Rusesabagina has been accused of acting together with opposition leader Victoire Ingabire in conspiring to form a terrorist group to threaten national security.
Rusesabagina is alleged to have sent funds through the Western Union money transfer to two men believed to have been then top commanders of the FDLR with an aim of recruiting new fighters for a new terrorist organization.
Ms Ingabire, leader of The Unified Democratic Forces party (UDF) was charged earlier this week with colluding with ex-officers of a Hutu militia to buy and distribute weapons for propagation of ethnic division.
Rusesabagina has denied the charges describing them as ‘simple and pure lies’. He claimed the last time he sent money to Rwanda was in 2002, where he sent US$ 1000 to finance his brother’s brain tumour operation.
He said that President Paul Kagame’s government is conducting a smear campaign against him, which forms plans to intimidate and harass anyone who criticizes his administration.
Ngoga said he was working with US officials in gathering enough evidence against Rusesabagina. So far no formal charges have been filed in court.
The FDLR- largely composed of ethnic Hutus- is blamed for perpetrating the 1994 genocide in which over 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis were massacred. It continues to operate in remote border region in eastern of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they continue to commit atrocities and pillaging on local communities.
Rusesabagina who is exiled in Belgium has been hailed as a hero world wide since release of the movie, leading to his award of the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005- the highest civilian honour in the US- by then President George W. Bush.