The chairman of Mogadishu's Islamic courts union, media rights groups and residents of the war-shattered capital yesterday condemned the slaying of a Swedish journalist and called for justice against his unknown aggressor.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that a probe was under way to find the killer of Martin Adler, a Swedish photographer and reporter who was slain at a Mogadishu rally on Friday by an unidentified assailant.
"We will follow the footsteps of the killer until we get him," Ahmed told a press conference in the capital.
PHOTO: AFP
"The manhunt would go on until we catch the killer," Ahmed said, appealing to residents to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of the gunman.
Adler was filming a protest led by the Islamic courts union.
`Gun went off'
Witnesses said he was filming at the front of a crowd of thousands.
"A gun went off, he went down, that was it," Guardian correspondent Xan Rice, who was present, told Reuters.
"There was mass confusion. We were shunted to the side, and the rally was called off," Rice said.
After the lone shot, the crowd fled from the body, leaving sandals strewn on the sand.
Adler, a prize-winning freelance cameraman who covered more than two dozen war zones in his career, was of Anglo-Swedish origin and was married with two daughters.
He won the Amnesty International media award in 2001 for his work on the kidnapping and sale of women in China, and the Rory Peck award for hard news in 2004 for his coverage from Iraq. He was reportedly working for the Swedish tabloid AftonBladet in Somalia
Dangerous
Adler, who arrived in Mogadishu around 10 days ago, became the 26th journalist killed this year, according to a tally by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, which also slammed the killing.
Since the Islamists took over, several Western journalists have gone into the city -- previously too dangerous to visit -- at the invitation of the Islamic courts union, who say their Shariah courts have brought peace and order to a country in desperate need of it.
`Setback'
The killing came less than 24 hours after the interim government and the Islamic courts controlling Mogadishu penned a mutual recognition pact that called for an end to violence that has engulfed the capital and outlying towns in recent months.
"The killing of the journalist is a setback to the credibility of the Islamic courts. Maybe that was the work of people who wanted to undermine the courts," said Abdullahi Muktar Hassanow, a Mogadishu resident.
Ali Abdikarim, a grocer in the capital, said: "Now it is the time to know whether the Islamic courts are capable of dealing with violence and crime. Let them arrest the killer."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number