By Guled Mohamed and Ibrahim Mohamed
Sunday, August 19, 2007
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a top clan leader and key player in efforts to bring peace to Somalia's warring factions on Saturday, the first time a senior clan elder has been killed in living memory, witnesses said.
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
dadka afka duubta ee dadka laayaa maxaa loogu
mintidi waayaa marka ay xaafad dad ku dhex dilaan
ama masaajid laga soo dareerayo, Reer Muqdisho maxaa
ka dhigey dad damiir la' oo sida xoolaha la isku
hor dilo, yaa nool maalin walba qof qaaliyaa
la dilayaa.
Dadka ku haya Abdulahi Yusuf baa ka dambeeyey,
waxaad ilowsantihiin isaga laftiisa in afka
loogu soo duubtay Kenya markuu daganaa,
gaarigiisana la qarxiyo. war dadkan Soomali
maaha filayaa siday aniga ila tahay, qof
soomaliyeed oo muslim ah qof masaajid ka soo baxay
ma dileen, bir ma goydada madax dhaqameedna
ma dileen, ee dadkan wax dilaya ha lagu
mintido oo xaafaday wixii jooga ha ku dhagaan,
naftu mar bay baxdaa, lakiin nimankan waa in
la ogaado meesha nalooga soo diray
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it's a game, a dangerous game and he invested in it but lost. I won't shed any tears for any local somali leader. he was in it for the money but got killed.
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How many times I have been told " Diese ist nicht dein heimat dumkopf, und wir mussen kein affe haben im unsere heimat" just because of little misunderstanding. You only understand what having a country that is all yours means when you don't have one anymore. Yey and Gedi do not understand because they have been blind folded by both greed and tribal worship at the expense of Somalia and its 12 million people. Boys we have no choice but to liberate "unsere haimat" by all means. everything is only table to get Gen. Gabre and his lackays Yey and Geedi going
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senseless killing, may allah reward him jannah since he is shahiid
so far all the killings are unrelated to the issue of ethiopian troops being there
the only people that can be blamed for this igonorant killing is his own
subclan and they should behead those behind it.
also anyone boycotting the conference is responsible for this killing
such as the other hawiye clans who have only one interest which is distroy somalia
also the criminal courts and the corrupted fake but mostly uneducated idiots who call themself free MPs should be hold responsible
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Somali Cow "Abdullahi Yusuf" and his special forces was behind this killing. Their aim was to blame ICU army but many people understood their dirty trick. Abdullahi Yusuf is war criminal who need to face justice
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Allaha u naxariisto Marxuumkaan. Waa tii ugu darneyd oo ka dhacda Soomliya, oo odey dhaqameed lagu dilo. Waxaan ilaah ka baryaaya in kuwii ka dambeeya dilkiisa la soo qabqabto, lana dilo. Inta aysan faraha arini ka bixin, oo aano qabiil iwm la gelin.
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HOL, why am I being censored?
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The cowardly killing of the peace loving elder shows how low and evil those mindless thugs are. Is that your way of preaching the good word?
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"May Allah bless him, Moalim Harun Moalim Yusuf was one of the prominent Somali clan chiefs.
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Tan waa ceebtii u weyneyd ee u soo hoyata dadka soomaalida, sababtoo ah dilkan waa dhaqan cusub oo hadana foolxun oo sii fogeynaya waanwaan laga gaaro arimaha aadka u qasan ee ka aloosan meelo badan oo soomaaliya ka mid ah.
Suaahsa is waydiinta leh ayaa waxay tahay: maxaa saacadba saacada ka danbaysa ay arimaha qarankaan u sii qaldamayaan?.
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What a cowardly act! In order to kill the peace process, must you kill the peacemakers? Shame on those who taken this conflict into another level, and are desperately seeking to eliminate who they perceive is a threat to their existence and way of life.
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