Uganda releases Somali minister

Mogadishu Wednesday 7 October 2009 Shaaficiyah Media

Somalia's junior minister for defence who was briefly held in Uganda has been released, Uganda's army spokesman says.

Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a former Islamist warlord, was detained by Ugandan security forces during a trip to the capital Kampala on Tuesday.

The army spokesman said he was arrested following a tip-off that a Somali dissident had entered the country.

He added that it later became clear he was Somalia's minister who was on an unannounced visit to Kampala.

Mr Siad was apparently visiting his family who have relocated from Somalia to Uganda.

Islamist past

On Tuesday, Mr Siad was apparently bundled into a car.

The answer may lie in Mr Siad's past, says BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut.

He was previously a member of Hizbul-Islam - an Islamist group that has been fighting the Somali government, which is itself supported by Ugandan peacekeeping troops attached to the African Union force in Somalia.

But earlier this year he defected to the Somali government and was appointed to the defence portfolio.

Uganda has been losing men to attacks by Islamists in recent months.

For a senior Somali with a recent Islamist past to arrive, apparently unannounced, in their capital may have raised all sorts of questions in the minds of Ugandan security officials, our analyst adds.

Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991.

It was hoped the election of moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad as president in January and the departure of Ethiopian troops would stop the violence, but Islamist insurgents are keeping up their attacks and the government's military position has weakened further.

Mr Siad, who became minister of state for defence in June, served as head of security under Mr Ahmad when he briefly governed Somalia as chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006.

Source: BBC