Somali court convicts foreigners for al-Shabab recruitment
A military court in Somalia has sentenced a British and a Malaysian citizen to 15 years in prison for belonging to Islamist militant group al-Shabab.
Briton Darren Anthony Byrnes, 44, and Malay Ahmed Mustagim bin Abdihamid, 34, were convicted of recruiting foreign fighters.
They travelled to Somalia just over a decade ago.
During the trial Mr Byrnes explained that he entered the country after paying $50 (£36) to a group of soldiers from neighbouring Kenya.
“I presumed that was my visa end of story,” he said.
The two men were arrested in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland while trying to board a boat to Yemen.
They had both denied working with al-Shabab.
