Somalia bans Islamist terrorist group's name from the media

onnaedo

May 4, 2015 3:39 PM

Al-Shabab responded to the directive by asking journalists to refer to the Somali government with the same acronym, Ugus.

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Al-Shabab shall forthwith remain unnamed in the Somali media as the government has issued a directive to media houses to stop referring to the Islamist militant group by their name.

Rather, they shall be referred to as Ugus (directly translated as an acronym for Ururka Gumaadka Ummadda Soomaaliyeed), an acronym for the Somali words meaning "the Group that Massacres the Somali People".

BBC reports that Al-Shabab responded by asking journalists to refer to the Somali government with the same acronym, Ugus.

In this case, Ugus means "the Group that Subjects the Somali people to Humiliation".

Speaking on the development, the head of Somalia's Intelligence and Security Services Gen Abdirahman Mohamud Tuuryare told reports that al-Shabab, which means the youth in Arabic, was "a good name".

"We should not allow this good name to be dirtied. This enemy we are fighting is called Ugus."

According to reports, the propaganda war between the Somali government and al-Shabab has been going on since 2009, when al-Shabab declared war on the then president of the Transitional Federal Government, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Since then, the two sides have been exchanging derogatory messages through their media outlets.

onnaedo