Missing Somali Talaban MP feared to have defected

Mogadishu, February 12– A member of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), Mr Salah Nuh Ismael alias Salah Badbaado, who has been reported missing may have crossed over to one of the opposition rebel groups, possibly Al-Shabaab.Sources told the Nation that the defection "looks real", but there has been no official confirmation from either the Transitional National Government or the al ShabaabThe MPs’ wife and the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Osman Elmi Boqorre, have both acknowledged that the legislator has been missing.“It is premature to speculate on whether the MPs has been kidnapped or joined the armed opposition groups,” said Boqorre.The legislator's absence was noticed early on Thursday and since then he has not contacted his family, friends or government officials.

Hotel

Mr Badbaado, who went missing from a hotel in South Mogadishu, has recently been advocating for greater transparency in the government. He was one of over 40 MPs who signed a motion demanding fresh elections for speaker of the TFP and parliamentary reform.He also endorsed the statement by Kenyan Immigration Minister, Otieno Kajwang, who told the BBC he was on the verge of telling Somali MPs to register as refugees if they wanted to stay in Kenya.The legislator had called upon President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to step down, citing several government failures.