This was revealed by Muawiya Mudeey, the spokesman for the candidate in Mogadishu.
Mukhtar’s candidacy has put him at odds with the central government.
“Candidate Sheikh Mukhtar (Robow) was just beaten and arrested by Ethiopian (peacekeeping) forces in
Baidoa now,” the spokesman said.
“First he was called in by the interim President of South West state and when he reached that office, Ethiopian
forces beat him terribly and they arrested him.
‘ And now there is fighting between residents and government forces in Baidoa.”
Regional officials in Baidoa, the state capital of South West, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mohamed Aden, a local elder, said Ethiopian and local Somali security forces participated in Robow’s arrest.
“We do not know the reason but we think it is because of politics,” Aden told Reuters by telephone.
“There is no fighting now but tension is very high in Baidoa and anything can happen. I mean, war can start anytime.”
Robow, a former prominent al Shabaab insurgent and group spokesman, laid low for several years before publicly
renouncing violence and recognising the authority of the U.S.-backed federal government in August 2017.
South West will be the first of Somalia’s seven semi-autonomous regions to hold presidential elections in the coming months.
Observers said that this represents a critical juncture in a growing power struggle between center and periphery in the
aftermath of a long civil war.
The Mogadishu government tried to bar his presidential candidacy in South West because of remaining U.S. sanctions
against him.
But the state electoral commission last month dismissed Mogadishu’s demands and accepted his candidacy.
However, on Dec. 1 the commission postponed South West’s vote for the third time, saying it was not sufficiently
prepared amid lingering tensions with Mogadishu.
Somalia has been trying to claw its way out of the remnants of the civil war that engulfed it in 1991, when clan warlords
overthrew a dictator and then turned on each other.
Al Shabaab has sought for more than a decade to topple the weak central government in Mogadishu and implement its
strict version of Islamic law.
It was driven out of the capital in 2011 but retains a strong presence in some areas including South West. (Reuters/NAN)