​Somalia: Military court sentences Somali Minister's killer to death again

MOGADISHU, Somalia- The High Court of Somali military has sentenced a government soldier to death for killing Minister of Public Works, Abas Siraji in Mogadishu on last May, Garowe Online reports.

The convicted soldier identified as Ahmed Abdullahi Abdi (Aideed), 29, has appealed against the a death penalty sentence he had been given by the first degree court  in June 19.

Abdi who was a bodyguard for former Auditor General Nur Farah Jimale has been accused of killing the country's  youngest Minister at a security checkpoint near the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu.

Lawyers representing the soldier say he mistook the  Minister, who was in his vehicle, for a militant Islamist trying to kill Jimale in drive-by shooting, after he found the movements of the car to be suspicious.

Speaking to reporters in Mogadishu, Liban Ali Yarow, the Chief Judge of Somalia's Military Court has announced the verdict, saying the soldier has pleaded guilty after evidence and sentenced to death.

At 31, Abas became Somalia's youngest-ever member of Parliament last November, before becoming the Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction earlier this year. The Minister's death caused shock and anger at the time.

GAROWEONLINE