The Somali government explores “extradition mechanisms for Matt Bryden”

[Deeq A.]

Matt Bryden (far, right) attended a conference in Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa and argued for the implementation of the maritime Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland administration in violation of Somalia’s sovereignty.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The Federal Government of Somalia expressed to IGAD its concerns regarding “the disregard for Somalia’s sovereignty shown by Matt Bryden, the founder of Sahan Research, during a recent conference in Ethiopia.” The interest in Bryden’s extradition process stems from statements made by Bryden at a conference in Addis Ababa, where he referred to Somalia as a failed state and described the maritime Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and the Somaliland administration as “legal.”

In 2021, Bryden was sentenced to five years in prison by the Benadir Regional Court for leaking state secrets. The Director of National Intelligence and Security Agency(NISA) Abdullahi Mohamed Ali (aka Sanbaloolshe) is reportedly overseeing communications with the IGAD executive on the matter. Under Sanbalolshe and his predecessor, Mahad Salad, NISA coordinated with the Ethiopian intelligence agency in 2017 for the extradition of Abdikarim Qalbidhagah to Ethiopia and in 2023 with the National Intelligence Service for the extradition of Sufyaan Taakeeye from Kenya to Somalia.

A senior Somali government official, who requested anonymity, stated, “NISA has been tasked with utilising its extradition expertise to engage with Kenya regarding bringing Matt Bryden to justice to serve his custodial sentence in Mogadishu.” The Federal Government of Somalia has advocated with several IGAD member countries to make the Guiding Principles and Rules of Procedures of IGAD binding and to align them with the articles on sovereignty in the African Union Charter.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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