Farmaajo’s last dance in Ikram Farah murder case… to rescue Fahad Yasin

Outgoing Somali President Abdullahi Farmaajo issued a decree regarding his intelligence chief, Fahad Yasin, as a turning point in the case of the murder of Ikram Farah.

The decree overturns Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roubaili’s decision to suspend Yasin and appoint General Beshir Mohammad Jama as the new interim director of the intelligence agency.

In a decree of questionable legality, the President, who entrusted the Prime Minister with his functions under an agreement with the opposition forces, described the latter’s decision as “illegal”.

In the decree, he said: “Farmaajo recognizes the importance of the national security apparatus to the country’s security and its role in countering the terrorist threat to Somalia and its international partners.”

Thus, the case of the intelligence worker, whose death was announced by the Al-Shabab movement in a mysterious statement, enters a new arena of conflict between Farmaajo and Roubaili, in what appears to be an attempt to save Yasin from judicial responsibility in the case of Ikram’s murder.

Farmaajo instructed the National Security and Intelligence Service to submit the pending report on the missing staff member to the National Security Council at the time of the first meeting of the Council, without specifying a date.

Events have accelerated in Somalia since the intelligence service announced last Thursday that its employee, Ikram Farah, had been killed by Al-Shabab after she was handed over by an unidentified party to the movement, which denied this accusation.

On Sunday, two other events marked the case after Roubaili Yassine gave 48 hours to uncover Ikram’s murder before ordering his suspension.

As part of an agreement with the opposition, Roubaili is ruling the country after Farmaajo’s presidency officially expired earlier this year, in order to hold general elections in the anti-terrorism African country.