Somalia: Former deputy chief removed from NISA membership

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's Spy Agency has on Saturday announced it stripped former deputy Chief, Abdalla Abdalla Mohamed of his membership for divulging classified information to the media, Garowe Online reports.

The National Intelligence and Security Agency [NISA] NISA said on its Twitter account that Mohamed will no longer be a member of the Intelligence Bureau and cannot be trusted with handling the sensitive national issues.

The decision came after the former NISA deputy Director who was sacked last month and replaced with Fahad Yasin, gave an interview to VOA Somali Service, in which he made stiff accusations against the embattled agency.

Yasin, who served as the Chief of Staff at Villa Somalia was appointed as new NISA deputy head to substitute Mohmed in a major security reshuffle carried out by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo last Month.

In the Interview, Mohamed disclosed that Al-Shabaab members infiltrated into NISA have raided his office in the agency's HQ in the capital, days after he was suspended by his superior, stealing confidential documents.

The elimination of General Abdalla Abdalla is believed to be behind Fahad Yasin, a major ally of Qatar who is among the few influential senior officials in the weak Western-backed Federal Government based in Mogadishu.

Fahad Yasin, Al Jazeera Arabic bureau chief in Mogadishu is expected to work to improve Doha's influence on the Somali intelligence service as the Gulf country is now trying to take advantage of Somalia-UAE diplomatic row.

The dispute began after the Somali Federal government had confiscated nearly $9.6 million dollars from a UAE civilian aircraft at the Mogadishu's Airport last April, a move that added salt to the already strained ties.

The money was meant to pay the salaries of Somali National Army [SNA] soldiers trained at a UAE-run base in Mogadishu.

Following the incident, the UAE ended its military training program in Somalia, which started in 2014. Currently, Somalia seeks to ease tensions with the United Arab Emirates, a major trade, and strategic partner.

GAROWE ONLINE