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Somalia PM names ex-Shabaab leader Mukhtar Robow to Cabinet

Mukhtar Rubow Abu Mansur, a former Al Shabaab deputy leader. He had been barred from running for public office. FILE PHOTO | ABDULKADIR KHALIF | NMG

By  Aggrey Mutambo  &  Abdulkadir Khalif

Somalia Prime Minister Hamza Barre on Tuesday broke with tradition and named a former Al Shabaab leader in his Cabinet in what could signal a turn in counter-terrorism policy.

Mr Barre named Mukhtar Robow, a former deputy leader of the militant group al-Shabaab, two years after he was placed under house arrest.

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