MALAYSIAN HUMANITARIAN TEAM IS SAFE IN SOMALIA?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – BERNAMA news agency cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, was killed in the Somali capital of Mogadishu when African Union peacekeepers allegedly shot at a truck in which six mission members, including the 39-year-old, were traveling.
He who worked in national news agency Bernama for 11 years leaves a wife, Norazrina Jaafar, and two sons aged eight and three years.
However, Datuk Azeez Abdul Rahim, who is heading the Malaysian humanitarian mission to Somalia, said Noramfaizul Mohd Nor’s death appeared to be fated because the cameraman had insisted on going to Somalia even though he had not been originally assigned by Bernama to cover the mission.- He said that even though the participants had waived their rights by signing an indemnity, the club had still taken out special insurance for the members.
- Azeez said he had been informed by the insurance company that RM200,000 would be paid out to Noramfaizul’s family.
As Malaysians mourn the killing of a local journalist in Somalia, Noramfaizul Mohd Nor’s relatives want the non-governmental Putera 1 Malaysia Club to be held responsible for his death. Yesterday, Noramfaizul’s relatives demanded that Putera 1 Malaysia Club be held responsible for his death.
“They (Putera 1 Malaysia Club) are the ones who organised (the mission). They cannot lepas tangan (evade responsibility),” Noramfaizul’s uncle Abu Bakar Md Yasin told The Malaysian Insider at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here today.- “They should have done prior intelligence. Don’t just barge in. This is a foreign country,” added the 64-year-old retired civil servant from the Defence Ministry.
- Noramfaizul’s other uncle, Md Tahir Md Yasin, said his nephew’s death could have been avoided.
- “They should wear bulletproof vests. It’s not a stable country,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
- The 69-year-old retired teacher said Bernama should also be held accountable for Noramfaizul’s death, besides the Putera 1 Malaysia Club.
Mary Francis(left photo), the mother of a psychologist who was part of the mission team, echoed Tahir’s remarks, saying: “They don’t have bulletproof vests. This is important in a war-torn country.
International media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rank Somalia as the deadliest country in Africa for media personnel, with 23 media workers killed since 2007. The famine-stricken country has not had a functioning government for more than 20 years.
INSURGENTS VOW TO AVENGE RAID IN SAMOLIA
MOGADISHU, Somalia – U.S. special forces aboard helicopters penetrated into Somalia and, guns blazing, attacked a convoy said to contain a top al-Qaida fugitive. A local official, citing intelligence reports, confirmed on Tuesday the target was killed and Islamist insurgents vowed to seek revenge.
Source: AP
- Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan citizen, was wanted for questioning in connection with the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis were killed in the blast at the hotel. The missiles missed the airliner.
- Monday's commando-style action took place amid growing concerns that al-Qaida is gaining a foothold in this lawless nation.
- Many experts fear Somalia is becoming a haven for al-Qaida, a place for terrorists to train and gather strength much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. Last year, U.S. missiles killed reputed al-Qaida commander Aden Hashi Ayro — marking the first major success after a string of U.S. military attacks in 2008.
- Two U.S. military officials said that forces from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were involved in Monday's raid in southern Somalia. The officials gave no details about the target, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was secret.
- But the deputy mayor for security affairs in Somalia's capital, citing intelligence reports, confirmed that 30-year-old Nabhan was killed. Abdi Fitah Shawey did not elaborate.
- Somali witnesses to Monday's raid say six helicopters buzzed an insurgent-held village near Barawe, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Mogadishu, before two of the aircraft opened fire on a vehicle, killing two and wounding two.
- Two senior members of al-Shabab, who asked that their names not be used because they are not authorized to speak publicly, said their fighters will retaliate for the raid.
- "They will taste the bitterness of our response," one of the commanders told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
- Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa Project Director of the International Crisis Group, said the "surgical" precision of Monday's raid shows that U.S. has specific intelligence in Somalia.
- "I think it will certainly make al-Shabab leaders much more cautious when they are operating because obviously the United States has very precise intelligence about their movements," he said.
- Like much of Somalia, Barawe and its surrounding villages are controlled by the militant group al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.
- The U.N.-backed government, with support from African Union peacekeepers, holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the war-ravaged capital.
SECURITY MINISTER AMONG 20 PEOPLE KILLED IN SAMOLIA
A suicide bombing in western Somalia killed at least 20 people Thursday including the national security minister. The Somali president blamed al-Qaida while an extremist group with alleged links to the terror network claimed responsibility.
Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud announced the death of National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden (photo) but declined to give any other details..
Courtesy: Yahoo News
Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud announced the death of National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden (photo) but declined to give any other details..
- Witness Mohamed Nur said a small car headed toward the gate of the Medina Hotel in Belet Weyne, then drove into vehicles leaving the hotel and exploded.
- Somalia's president accused al-Qaida of being behind the bombing but did not offer any evidence. He said the attack also killed a senior Somali diplomat.
- "It was an act of terrorism and it is part of the terrorist attack on our people," Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed told journalists in the capital. "Al-Qaida is attacking us."
- Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told local radio stations by phone that his group carried out the attack and that one of their fighters died.
- "We killed the national security minister and the former ambassador to Ethiopia," said Rage, speaking from an undisclosed location.
- Al-Shabab, an extremist Somali Islamic group, is considered by the U.S. State Department to be a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, the terror network headed by Osama bin Laden. But al-Shabab has denied those links to the international group.
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
