http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/12/27/Top-figure-in-al-Shabaab-militant-group-surrenders-in-Somalia/3081419711222/
Top figure in al-Shabaab militant group surrenders in Somalia
The U.S. State Department issued a $3 million bounty for the
al-Shabaab intelligence chief, who recently surrendered to Somali and
African Union forces near the border with Kenya and Ethiopia.
By Fred Lambert | Dec. 27, 2014 at 4:38 PM
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A top leader in terror group
al-Shabaab surrendered to Somali government authorities in the east
African nation's border regions, officials said Saturday.
Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi was the chief of intelligence for
al-Shabaab and had worked with the group's former leader, Ahmed Abdi
Godane, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in September.
The U.S. State Department issued a $3 million bounty for Hersi as part
of its "Rewards for Justice Program" after the U.S. designated
al-Shabaab a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" and a "Specially
Designated Global Terrorist entity" in 2008.
Hersi gave himself up to Somali government and African Union forces in
the the Gedo region near the borders with Ethiopia and Kenya,
officials said Saturday.
"We're looking at someone who, potentially, will bring with them an
encyclopedic knowledge of the organization: Who is in charge of what,
what their modus operandi is and so on. It could fill in a lot of
intelligence gaps," a Western intelligence source who asked to remain
anonymous reportedly told Al Jazeera.
The source said Hersi's surrender was likely motivated by in-fighting
within the al-Qaida-affiliated group, which underwent bloody purges
while Godane was still alive and in charge.
Al-Shabaab has not commented on Hersi's capitulation.
The surrender comes after a Christmas-day attack by al-Shabaab on the
Halane military base in Mogadishu, where African Union forces in
Somalia, called AMISOM, are headquartered. Three AMISOM soldiers and a
civilian contractor were killed in the attack, along with five
militants.
Received on Sat Dec 27 2014 - 20:37:06 EST