Abdillahi Yusuf’s Agent Arrested in Buroa

Buroa (SL Times): A man accused of working as an agent for Puntland's warlord Abdillahi Yusuf had surrendered peacefully to the Somaliland authorities in Buroa on Thursday.

Musa Abdi Mohmud better known as "Muse Madoobe" has recently come back to Buroa from a trip to Garowe, where he met Abdillahi Yusuf. Upon returning to Buroa more than 2 weeks ago, Muse Madoobe told local reporters that he went to Garowe at the head of a delegation from his clan to discuss issues of bilateral interest such as trade and security with Puntland officials. However, Muse’s clan elders denied his assertions and said he acted alone.

The Somaliland Times has learned that Musa Madoobe was in-fact hired by Abdillahi Yusuf to recruit Somalilanders willing to become members of a delegation to be sent to Eldoret as representatives of Somaliland elders and civil society.

Assuming that his plan would succeed, Abddillahi Yusuf had in the last 2 weeks been trying, though in vain, to persuade the Eldoret Somalia peace conference to demand Somaliland’s participation in the talks.

"If the Somaliland administration insists on staying away from the talks, civil society representatives should be allowed to come," he argued at the conference. The Somaliland government responded by repeating its long-held position that as an independent sovereign state it had nothing to do with peace talks among the warring factions of the former Italian colony of Somalia. Opposition parties have also condemned Abdillahi Yusuf’s hysteric cries for Somaliland’s participation in the Eldoret conference.

The arrest of Muse Madoobe has clearly dealt a heavy blow to Abdillahi Yusuf’s plan. Somaliland’s minister of interior, Ismail Adan Osman, went to Buroa earlier in the week with the purpose of supervising a security operation for bringing Muse Madobe and a number of his followers into police custody. Traditional leaders such as King Mohamed Ali Arab, Suldan Mohamud Guleed and Suldan Mohamud H. Husein fully cooperated with the authorities by convincing Muse Madoobe not to resist arrest.

On Thursday, Muse Madoobe surrendered to King Mohamed Arab who in turned handed him over to the minister of interior. The government is expected to try Muse and his associates on charges of treason.

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