Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Fourth journalist dies in Somalia

Mogadishu - The fourth journalist to have been killed this year in conflict-ridden Somalia died of bullet wounds sustained in late April, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) said on Tuesday.

Nur Muse Hussein, 56, was deliberately shot on April 20 as he covered fighting between insurgents and government forces in Central Somalia.

“Today is another unforgettable and sad day for the Somali journalists’ community,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ Secretary General.

“The death of Nur Muse Hussein highlights the unacceptable, continuing and deliberate violence against journalists in Somalia.”

Journalists and aid workers are often deliberately targeted for assassination in Somalia, where Islamist militants are waging a bloody insurgency against the weak transitional government.

Abdirisak Warsameh Mohamed of Radio Shabelle was shot dead on May 22 during fierce fighting in Mogadishu.

In February, Said Tahlil Ahmed, the director of HornAfrik Radio, was assassinated in Mogadishu, following on from the killing of another Radio Shabelle journalist on January 1.

Islamist insurgent groups al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam are trying to topple the government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who once worked alongside the insurgents.

Over 200 people, the majority of them civilians, have died since fighting intensified in early May.

Latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR say that around 60,000 people have fled north Mogadishu during the same period.

Al-Shabaab on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a military camp in the Somali capital Mogadishu that killed seven people.

Sheikh Hussein Fidow, a senior al-Shabaab official, warned that more suicide bombings aimed at government and African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces would follow in the coming weeks.

Somali officials believe that the bomber was most likely a foreign fighter - one of hundreds who have flooded to Somalia in recent months to help fight the Western-backed government.

Sheikh Sharif has called on the international community to help defend Somalia against the foreign fighters, who he said came from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sheik Sharif’s government controls only sections of Mogadishu, while the insurgents hold sway across much of southern and central Somalia.

The new president, who came to power earlier this year as part of a UN-backed peace process, has implemented Islamic law - one of the insurgents’ key demands - but the militants say he is too close to the West.

The insurgency, which began after Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 to kick out the Islamic Courts Union, has claimed the lives of over 17,000 people, mainly civilians. Ethiopia pulled out in January this year.

Ethiopia’s long-term foe Eritrea has been accused of arming the insurgents. The AU on Friday called on the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Eritrea and also implement a no-fly zone and a sea blockade to stop arms coming in.

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and is widely regarded as a failed state.

Source: dpa

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