Somalia’s president urges people to flush out al-Shabaab ‘bedbugs’.

 Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called Thursday on ordinary people to help flush out members of the al-Shabaab extremist group he described as “bedbugs.”

Mohamud was addressing large crowds at a government-organized rally against the al-Qaeda-linked militants held at a stadium in the capital Mogadishu under tight security.

“I’m calling to you, the people of Mogadishu, the kharijites (renegades) are amongst you... so flush them out. They are in your houses, they are your neighbors, in cars that pass you by,” he said.

“I want us to commit today to flushing them out, they are like bedbugs under our clothes,” he added, as demonstrators waved flags and placards with anti-al-Shabaab messages.