By Guled Mohamed and Ibrahim Mohamed
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Maalim Harun Maalim Yusuf was shot twice in the head by three men armed with pistols outside his house in northern Mogadishu, his wife Madina Guled Mahamed told Reuters on Sunday.
Shoot-outs in Somalia's lawless capital have become increasingly common since allied Somali-Ethiopian forces seized the city from Islamists in December, sparking an insurgency that has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands.
But residents say elders are normally too revered to be targeted. Yusuf's shock killing has therefore sparked fears of bloody reprisals in a city teeming with semi-automatic weapons.
"One of the bullets penetrated through his head," Mahamed said in a low, hoarse voice as she tried to choke back tears. "He was shot as he knocked on the gate. We don't know why they killed him -- he was a delegate at the peace talks."
The elder hails from the same sub-clan as Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi. He was chief negotiator of a sub-clan of the Abgal clan at a reconciliation conference aiming to bring an end to the bloodshed in Somalia.
Delegates said he was playing a crucial role.
"Maalim Yusuf was a peace-loving elder. We will badly miss him. His death will negatively impact the talks," delegate Abdirahman Ahmed told Reuters. "This is a big blow to peace."
Heavy fighting rocked the neighbouring Horuwa district of Mogadishu hours after Yusuf was killed. Insurgents fired mortars at police who took up positions around a children's hospital.
"Two guards and a man were wounded after mortars landed at the hospital. The insurgents attacked the police from two sides and we were caught in the middle," a security guard who asked not to be named told Reuters. "The police responded with heavy artillery -- it was really terrifying."
Somalia has been without a functioning government since military ruler Mohamed Siad Barre's regime collapsed in 1991, causing the Horn of Africa country to disintegrate into a patchwork of quarrelling fiefdoms.
Deadly fire fights have intensified in the past few months.
At least 16 people were killed and 30 others wounded on Saturday in a gun battle between rival clans in central Somalia.
Hours earlier, the deputy governor of Mogadishu survived an assassination attempt as his car hit a remote-controlled landmine planted by suspected insurgents. (Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh)
Source: Reuters, Aug 19, 2007