Somalia publicly executes former al Shabaab spokesman

Hassan Hanafi, a former media officer for the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, stands tied to a pole before his execution by shooting at close range on a field in General Kahiye Police Academy in Somalia"s capital Mogadishu, April 11, 2016.

SOMALIA: A former media officer for the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab was publicly executed by a government firing squad on Monday for ordering the death of six journalists, court officials said.

Hassan Hanafi, who arranged news conferences for the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group when the militants controlled the capital Mogadishu, admitted during his trial to personally killing one journalist in Somalia.