MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s prime minister has appointed former Al Shabaab group co-founder and spokesman Mukhtar Robow as a minister in the country’s new cabinet, a move that could either help bolster the fight against the insurrection, or provoke clan clashes.

Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said in televised remarks that Robow, who once received a US$5 million bounty on his head before splitting from Al Shabaab in 2013, would be the minister in charge of religion.

The previous government arrested him in December 2018 in the southwestern region of Somalia while he was campaigning for the regional presidency. The protests that followed were put down with deadly force, with security forces shooting at least 11 people.

“After long deliberations with the president and the public, I have appointed ministers who have training and experience and they will fulfill their duties. I ask parliament to approve the cabinet,” Barre said before announcing the cabinet appointments.

Some analysts have speculated that Robow, who later denounced Al Shabaab, could help bolster government forces in his home region of Bakool, where the insurgency holds substantial amounts of territory.

New President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, elected by lawmakers in May, has vowed to lead the fight against the insurgency after three years in which his predecessor, consumed by political infighting, took little action against al Shabaab.

This allowed the insurgency to build up large reserves of cash and carry out attacks across a large swath of the country.

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Estelle Shirbon)

Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.