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From Our Own Correspondent

Al-Shabab's Defectors

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2020

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For well over a decade, the Al Qaeda linked group Al Shabab has struck terror in Somalia, Kenya and beyond blowing up shopping malls and hotels. Its senior leaders want to establish a caliphate, where their draconian form of Islam is imposed. But most Al Shabaab foot-soldiers come from deprived backgrounds and now hundreds have defected and are rebuilding their lives. Mary Harper visited a rehabilitation centre in the capital Mogadishu.

In Afghanistan too, there are hopes of militants disarming, Taliban prisoners being released and of an end to a long drawn out conflict. But the peace process is overshadowed by a crisis in government. The defeated candidate in the presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, proclaimed himself as president at the same time as the official inauguration of President Ghani earlier this week. David Loyn was there.

There was much praise for the three journalists whose dogged investigations ultimately led to Harvey Weinsteins's conviction. But an important question remains says Kirsty Lang: why was the movie mogul's systematic abuse of women, kept out of the media for so many years?

In France schools are closing until further notice as the government battles to stem the spread of the coronavirus. But President Macron said local elections would go ahead as planned. Elderly people, most at risk, may stay away from the polls. But in Pamiers, Chris Bockman met a candidate for mayor, a hardy nonagenarian.

Despite its beautiful lakes, forests and hilltop castles Estonia had a hard time attracting tourists in the 1970s. Few Westerners fancied spending their holidays on that side of the Iron Curtain. But then the Soviet authorities built a luxury hotel fitted out with state of the art listening devices says Rob Crossan.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:05.0

Good morning.

0:07.0

Today most countries would consider one president enough, but in Afghanistan they appear to have two. In America, Harvey Weinstein's heading

0:16.2

for jail and our correspondent explores why the media sat on the worst kept secret in Hollywood.

0:23.2

Much concern about the elderly, of course, across Europe at the moment.

0:27.2

Take heart.

0:28.2

In France, their oldest mayor is up for re-election.

0:31.4

He's 94. And holiday time Soviet style, we visit the hotel in Estonia

0:37.6

where the ashtrays had ears and the 23rd floor was reserved for spies.

0:44.0

First, to Somalia, which has had to contend with over a decade of violence and mayhem from the

0:49.8

Al-Shabaab group, linked with Al-Qaeda and the desire to set up a caliphate of merciless Islam.

0:57.4

Shopping malls and hotels blown up, ordinary life disrupted and much of the country under

1:02.3

the terrorist control.

1:04.7

Most of the group's foot soldiers are from deprived backgrounds.

1:08.8

Some are forced to join and others tempted by money or the promise of going to

1:13.0

paradise. However, hundreds have defected and Mary Harper

1:17.6

has been to one of the country's three rehabilitation

1:20.4

centers, the Serenity Facility in the capital Mogadishu. the

1:23.3

capital Mogadishu.

1:24.3

The music blaring out of the library is so loud I can barely hear myself think.

1:29.5

Inside the large book-lined room I discover the source of the racket, two boys singing their

1:36.3

hearts out while dancing to the music blasting out from huge loudspeakers.

...

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