MOGADISHU, Somalia Sep 28 (Garowe Online) - Islamist hardliners in southern Somalia have executed two men accused of being spies for the U.S. spy agency, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Radio Garowe reports.

The ruling was issued in the Somali capital Mogadishu by a court with Al Shabaab judges, which sentenced the two men to death and a third man to whipping.

"The court found Hassan Abdullahi Jareer and Mohamed Ali Salad to be guilty of spying for the American CIA, AMISOM and the Somali government," said Sheikh Abdi Haq, the Al Shabaab judge who issued the verdict.

According to the judge, the two accused men "admitted in court" to charges of spying for the CIA. Sheikh Abdi Haq accused the two men of "assisting the CIA" in the Sep. 14 assassination of Al Qaeda suspect Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and the assassination of Sheikh Aden Hashi Ayro, who was killed in a U.S. air strike in central Somalia in May 2008.

On Monday, 10 Al Shabaab fighters shot the two men to death as dozens of civilians including children watched, while a third man was whipped 29 times for "minting counterfeit currency." Al Shabaab commanders, who were present at the execution, said one of the dead men "used to direct AMISOM artillery towards our positions."

Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, the Al Shabaab head in Banadir region where Mogadishu is located, said the Islamist group has "white men in custody" accused of spying. He said that the suspects will be brought in front of an Al Shabaab court soon.

It is the first case of public execution by Al Shabaab for people accused of spying. The Islamist group, which the U.S. government accuses of having ties to Al Qaeda, has cut off hands and whipped suspects in past cases.

Somalia's Western-backed interim government and its AMISOM backers is cornered to pockets of Mogadishu, while Al Shabaab hardliners control many parts of the capital and most regions in southern Somalia.

Source: Garowe Online