Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has surrendered to Kenyan authorities at the Somali border, according to Somali intelligence officials.
Ahmed, considered a moderate in the Islamist movement ousted from power by Somali and Ethiopian forces in late December, surrendered yesterday and was in Kenyan custody, they said.
If confirmed, Ahmed would be the highest-ranking Islamist to surrender so far.
Officials said that he was captured in the Liboi area and is under US protection.
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Liboi is a Kenya border crossing near the southern tip of Somalia, where Ethiopian and Somali troops have been hunting Islamist remnants, and where the United States attacked what it said were al-Qaeda operatives two weeks ago.
