Tuesday March 23, 2021
Mogadishu (HOL) - Abdirashid Janan, the Jubaland security minister, wanted by Mogadishu for serious human rights violations, is reportedly negotiating his surrender to Somalia's federal government according to a report published by the BBC Somali language service.
Janan said that talks were underway, but an agreement has not yet been reached.
Mogadishu considers Janan a fugitive of justice since his high-profile jailbreak in late January 2020. On August 31, 2019, he was arrested upon landing at Aden Adde International Airport in Somalia's capital. He was remanded in custody until he made a brief court appearance at Banadir Regional Court five weeks later.
Somalia had previously sought the assistance of INTERPOL to arrest Abdirashid Janan with an international red notice.
Amnesty International believed that Janan found sanctuary in Nairobi and called on Kenyan authorities to hand him over to face justice.
In late January, Janan made the headlines when intense fighting broke out in Beled Hawo near the Somali-Kenyan border between Jubaland forces loyal to Abdirashid Janan and Federal Government troops. The gun battle led to the deaths of 11 people and the surrender of nearly 100 Jubaland fighters.
The Somali government accused Kenya of providing the rebels with the base in addition to funding and weapons. Kenya vehemently denied the charge. Their Internal Security Minister Fred Matiangi described Monday's fighting as "internal to Somalia and has nothing to do with us (Kenya)," adding that no Kenyan soldiers crossed into Somalia.
Last month Abdirashid Janan told the BBC that his forces were amassing at the border and preparing to launch a second attack in Beled Hawo.
A UN report accused Janan of murder, torture, illegal renditions and unlawful detention between 2014 and 2015.