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Somali executed for 'apostasy' Somali executed for 'apostasy'
(30 minutes later)
A Somali politician has been executed after being accused of changing his religion by working with non-Muslim Ethiopian forces. An Islamist militia has executed a Somali politician who they accused of changing his religion by working with non-Muslim Ethiopian forces.
An Islamist spokesman in the port of Kismayo told the BBC that Abdirahman Ahmed was shot dead on Thursday.An Islamist spokesman in the port of Kismayo told the BBC that Abdirahman Ahmed was shot dead on Thursday.
Mr Ahmed had worked with Kismayo's former warlord - the MP Barre Hirale - who is accused of attempting to retake the city with Ethiopian backing. Mr Ahmed had worked with Kismayo's former warlord - the MP Barre Hiraale - who is accused of attempting to retake the city with Ethiopian backing.
Ethiopian forces are leaving Somalia, after trying to oust Islamists in 2006. He is believed to be the first politician executed by the Islamists.
But their mission is largely regarded as a failure as most of the country is controlled by Islamists again. Ethiopian forces are pulling out of Somalia, two years after they intervened to try to oust Islamists from the capital Mogadishu.
But their mission to prop up the interim government is widely regarded as a failure as various Islamist group have recently advanced and once more control much of the country.
A group of hardline Islamists retook the coastal city of Kismayo in last August.A group of hardline Islamists retook the coastal city of Kismayo in last August.
Islamist authorities in the city stoned a 12-year-old girl to death for adultery in November, although her aunt said she was raped. Islamist authorities in the city stoned a 12-year-old girl to death for adultery in November, although her aunt said she had been raped.
In Mogadishu, tens of thousands of people have gathered at the football stadium, a former Ethiopian base, to celebrate the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces.
Talks about power-sharing between moderate Islamists and the government earlier resumed in neighbouring Djibouti.
'Denied body'
Relatives of Abdirahman Ahmed - also known as Waldiire - told the BBC he did not have a lawyer present during his trial in a Sharia court.Relatives of Abdirahman Ahmed - also known as Waldiire - told the BBC he did not have a lawyer present during his trial in a Sharia court.
They say he was arrested about a week ago and they were informed of his death sentence on Thursday morning.They say he was arrested about a week ago and they were informed of his death sentence on Thursday morning.
After his execution his brother pleaded to be able to bury his body, however, he was told the burial had already been done. Different Islamist groups now control much of the countrySheikh Hassan Yakub - the spokesman for Kismayo's Islamist administration - told the BBC's Somali Service that Mr Ahmed had admitted during his interrogation that he worked with those backed by Ethiopia.
This, he said, was the basis for the court's opinion that he had changed his religion.
The relatives said they had asked the authorities to allow Mr Ahmed to go into exile.
But he was executed after afternoon prayers on Thursday.
After the shooting, his brother pleaded to be able to bury his body, however, he was told the burial had already been done.
Mr Ahmed used to be the spokesman for the Jubba Valley Alliance - one of the factions which battled for control of Somalia during the 1990s.
Earlier this month, Mr Hiraale and his fighters took some towns from the hardline Islamist group al-Shabab in Gedo region, north of Kismayo.
Observers at the time said Mr Hiraale was being armed by the withdrawing Ethiopian troops - an allegation he denied.
Al-Shabab is on the US list of terrorist groups.