Somalia lauds U.S for delisting ex-Al-Shabaab intelligence chief

The Somali government on Saturday hailed the move by the U.S. government to remove one of the senior Al-Shabaab defectors from its list of wanted terrorists.

In a statement, the government said the decision by the U.S. government to delist Zakaria Ismail Hersi, aka "Zaki", from the Rewards for Justice List was a positive step in its effort to give a chance to more Al-Shabaab militants to surrender in line with the amnesty deal which started late last year.

"This follows negotiations between the Somali and the U.S. governments to establish clearly and beyond doubt that Zaki has renounced violence, rejected the terror group, Al-Shabaab, and has fully embraced the peace process, conditions which have been irrefutably established and which have been unequivocally proven to the people of Somalia through Zaki's statements to the media," it said.

Zakaria was one of seven top insurgents' officials whom Washington offered a total 33 million U.S. dollars in rewards for information leading to their capture in 2012.

Zakaria was formerly a senior Al-Shabaab intelligence commander, but surrendered late last year to government authorities and has been seen occasionally addressing the media under government security denouncing Al-Shabaab activities.

He has also been calling on the militants to surrender, denying medial reports that he had been tortured.

The government said it is still in support of those who wish to defect and transition back to the society, adding that it will, where necessary advocate on their behalf as was the case with Zakaria and another former Al-Shabaab leader Sheikh Atom who defected early 2014. Endi