U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto
The US embassy in Somalia has defended popular journalist Harun Maruf after the NISA’s intelligence and security agencies threatened to take action. In a statement posted on Twitter to the US embassy it said. ” Harun Maruf is a respectful and professional man. He is one of the most influential journalists in Somalia. ”
The embassy added that NISA’s threat posed a threat to the freedom of the press and the independent media as the basis for democracy and governance in Somalia.
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto’s remarks come amid sharp reactions from Somalis online and followers of Harun Maruf who condemned the statement from NISA. issued a statement through its Twitter account Thursday to the effect that Harun Maruf who co-authored Inside Al-Shabaab was a threat to the country’s security adding it would pursue legal action against him but did not specify any charges.
It was not immediately clear why NISA made such remarks against Harun Maruf but an expose by the journalist last year linking the intelligence agency to suspicious import of firearms which had allegedly been seized by EU Naval force could explain the move by the agency. In his periodical investigative series I-dossier last year, Harun Maruf revealed that NISA had acquired the weapons from Djibouti and kept them in a secret armory without going through the UN sanctions inspections.
Djibouti government did not confirm nor deny it was the source of the weapons, the programme details. According to the expose, a plane carrying firearms landed at Aden Adde Airports in Mogadishu on June 27, 2019 and were stored at an armory within the airport and later transported by NISA owned vehicles to an unspecified location.