Somalia refuses to hand over captured Al-Shabaab commander to Kenya

Somali security agencies said they had turned down a request from the Kenyan defence forces to hand over the captured Al-Shabaab commander, Zakariya Ismail Hersi.

Col. Abass Ibrahim Gurey has confirmed to media that they rejected the request from their Kenyan counterparts, Xinhua reported.

Kenyan defence forces are part of the Africa Union (EU) peacekeeping troops in the region.

"They requested us to hand over, but we turned it down. We only share security cooperation. We are two different countries with different administrations," he said.

Gurey added that the captured Al-Shabaab commander is a Somali citizen and thus he will be brought before justice inside his country to face charges and Somali security forces will only hand him over to the federal government of Somalia in Mogadishu.

"He is under Somali flag (territory) and we have the responsibility for his security. If he will be prosecuted, let it be inside his home country," he said.

No official comment, however, is available from both Kenyan and Somali governments regarding the issue.

The two neighbouring states have close security cooperation that is rejuvenated by the fight against Al-Shabaab militant group which has threatened the national security of both states.