Security forces apprehended a prominent Imam accused of spreading pro-al Shabab messages from his mosque on Mogadishu’s outskirts.
Sheikh Mustafa Ali Anod was arrested Sunday night in Elasha Biyaha, about 15 kilometres south of the capital while attempting to escape from security forces.
Somalia’s Ministry of Information said that Anod was arrested for “corrupting the youth” and that he would face justice.
The arrest of Sheikh Mustafa Ali Anod comes a week after Somalia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a statement prohibiting scholars and clerics from dealing with Al-Shabaab.
The religious affairs ministry called on Somali citizens to refer to the militant group as ‘Khawarij’ – a derogatory term meaning “those who walked out” or “those who left,” which is reserved for Islamic deviants.
The Minister of Religion, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansoor, has recently spoken out against al-Shabaab at mosques around Mogadishu. Robow delivered the Friday Prayer sermon at the Marwaas Eek Mosque, located in the primary Hamar market.
The al-Qaeda-linked militant group has been under attack since late summer when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched an offensive against them, backed by clan militias known locally as Ma’awisley, or “men in sarongs” and international partners.
