MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Monday rejected a decision by his Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble to suspend the country’s powerful spy chief Fahad Yasin over the death of a female intelligence agent Ikran Tahlil Farah.
In a statement issued shortly after the prime minister announced he had suspended Mr Yasin, president Farmajo asked him to continue his work.
It comes amid fallout between the president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his prime minister over a number of issues, including the spy chief’s continued meddling in the elections.
There are reports that Mr Roble is planning to take further action and dismiss a number of senior spy officials to ensure that a thorough probe is established into the disappearance of Ikran Tahlil.
PM Roble suspends spy chief after defying order to submit report on Ikran Tahlil’s death
Somalia’s prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble on Monday suspended the country’s powerful intelligence chief Fahad Yasin after he had defied an order to submit a comprehensive report on the death of a female spy Ikran Tahlil Farah within 48 hours.
On Saturday, the prime minister called a statement by the National Intelligence Agency on Ikran’s disappearance “unsatisfactory” and said the agency handled the case inappropriately while asking Fahad to deliver a full report within two days.
In a letter to the offices of the prime minister andthe president, the spy chief defied the prime minister’s order and demanded that a National Security Council meeting be convened, in the course of which he would brief the country’s leadership about the mysterious murder.
“The prime minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia suspended the Director General of the national intelligence and security agency Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir,” the prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said in a statement.
Mr Roble named former Custodial Corps chief Bashir Mohamed Jama to temporarily hold the office of the spy agency’s director general and ordered Fahad to hand over responsibilities within 3 days.
The prime minister cited the spy chief’s involvement in the disappearance of Ikran Tahlil, his defiance of an order to issue report on the young female intelligence agent’s death and meddling in the elections for the decision to suspend Fahad Yasin, who has been considered one of the country’s most powerful figures in the government since Farmajo took office in 2017.
Mohamed Hussein Roble ordered the country’s military prosecutor to launch thorough investigation into Ikran’s case and submit the findings to court.
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