Sheik Jamal, who went home for visit, ‘killed’ in Ethiopia

Seattle resident Sheik Jamal

July 26, 2012, SEATTLE – Longtime Seattle resident Sheik Mohamed Hussein Mohamed, “aka” sheik Jamal of Seattle, died suddenly on July 19 in Ethiopia and relatives feared he was killed. Following is a report by friends of the deceased elder:
Sheik Jamal left Seattle on July 17 , 2012 for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to spend Ramadan with his significant others back home. He safely arrived at Bole International airport on July 19, 2012 at 7:45 AM.
Sheik Jamal left Addis for Galamso town in the Eastern part of the country. He rented a private mini bus and left Addis same day. Our sources further confirmed that there were only three people inside the mini bus: the deceased, the driver and an assistant driver. A few miles away from their destination, the driver and his assistant brought the dead body of Sheik Jamal to Galamso hospital. They said: “He passed away due to abrupt “heart attack”.”

As soon as we heard the rumors of his death, we contacted the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa and informed them about the death of a U.S citizen. The embassy officials and Galamso town police ordered Sheik Jamal’s body be transferred over to Addis Ababa Menelik Hospital for autopsy. Here, we confirmed from close family members that Sheik Jamal suffered broken nose, scratches around his neck and other parts of his body. We further learned that there was a police officer who was riding with them beside the driver and his assistant. We learned that the driver and his assistant are under Galamso town police custody. The police officer who was believed to be riding with them is not arrested for unexplained reason. The hospital told family members that the autopsy resulted will be issued in two weeks and the honorable sheik’s body was transported back to Bordode town and rested.
Our community members in Seattle are heart-broken due to this tragedy. We are appealing to all concerned authorities, media outlets and human rights advocates in order to pass around this news and take the initiative of reaching out to the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the office of Washington State senators and Ethiopian Police commission in order to figure out the legitimate cause of Sheik Jamal’s unfortunate death.
The deceased Sheik was among active organizers and participants a recent Seattle Ethiopian Muslims demonstration against the Assassa town massacre of innocent civilians