Shady Past Of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud Revealed In Haatuf Investigative Report

Shady Past Of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud Revealed In Haatuf Investigative Report

Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 25, 2013 (SL Times) – An investigative report by Haatuf Newspaper has revealed disturbing news from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud’s past. According to Haatuf, before becoming president, Mr Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud ran a chain of Islamic schools (Madrasas) in Mogadishu which was attended by 30,000 students, and these Madrasas were used as indoctrination centers for extremist religious ideology and as a recruiting ground for al-Shabaab fighters. As evidence of these activities, the report cites the figure of 1200 students from these schools who died in the fighting between the Islamic Courts and Ethiopian troops in Duunuunaay, in late 2006. In addition to owning these schools, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was also employed with the Mogadishu based the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) and at the same time was affiliated with al-Qaida’s branch in Somalia which was headed by Adan Hashi Ayrow. It was because of these close connections with al-Shabaab that Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was able to establish his schools and Madrasas in Ifka Halane, an area that was then controlled by al-Shabaab leader Adan Hashi Ayrow. Ayrow himself was killed in US missile attack on May 1, 2008. Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud also served al-Shabaab in other ways. For example, he was a conduit for financial aid to al-Shabaab from wealthy Arab individuals within in the Gulf. Furthermore, the report says it was Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud who suggested to Adan Hashi Ayrow that the civil society leader, Abdiqadir Yahye, worked for the CIA, and provided intelligence about his whereabouts thus ensuring Abdiqadir Yahye’s murder by Ayrow in Mogadishu during 2005. Abdiqadir Yaxye was the chairman of CRD when he was gunned down while at his home.  According to Haatuf, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was sacked from his job at CRD several months after the assassination of Yaxye on the suspicion that the former was involved in the latter’s murder.