Journo's death 'a setback'
2006-06-24 13:08
Mogadishu - The chairman of Mogadishu's Islamic courts union, media rights groups and residents of the war-shattered capital on Saturday condemned the slaying of a Swedish journalist and called for justice against his unknown agressor.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that a probe was underway to find the killer of Martin Adler, a Swedish photographer and reporter slain at a Mogadishu rally on Friday by an unidentified assailant.
"We will follow the footsteps of the killer until we get him," AhaMogadishu - The chairperson of Mogadishu's Islamic courts union, media rights groups and residents of the war-shattered capital on Saturday condemned the slaying of a Swedish journalist and called for justice against his unknown agressor.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said that a probe was under way to find the killer of Martin Adler, a Swedish photographer and reporter 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.
"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.
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.
Adler, who arrived in Mogadishu around 10 days ago, became the 26th journalist killed in 2006, according to a tally by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF), which also slammed the killing.
"This was an appalling murder, one that turns journalists into pawns in the hands of rival armed clans that use such crimes in their battle for power," the press freedom group said in a statement.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "deeply shocked" by Adler's murder and called on the transitional government and the Union of Islamic Courts to ensure his killer was prosecuted.
"We mourn the loss of our colleague Martin Adler, a courageous journalist who received international acclaim for his investigative reporting," CPJ's executive director Ann Cooper said in a statement.
"Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic courts which control Mogadishu must now make it a priority to find and prosecute his killer," the statement added.
Residents of Mogadishu echoed that sentiment.
"Now it is the time to know whether the Islamic courts are capable of dealing with violence and crime. Let them arrest the killer," said Ali Abdikarim, a grocer in the capital.
According to the CPJ, at least 13 other journalists have been killed in Somalia since the Horn of Africa nation fell into anarchy in 1991, after the ouster of former dictator Siad Barre.
Since then, Somalia, home to some 10 million people, has lacked an effective government and has been split into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.
But early this month, militia loyal to the city's Islamic courts seized the Somali capital after ousting a US-backed warlord alliance, after four months of fighting that saw more than 360 deaths.
ed told a press conference in the capital.
"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.
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.
Adler, who arrived in Mogadishu around 10 days ago, became the 26th journalist killed in 2006, according to a tally by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF), which also slammed the killing.
"This was an appalling murder, one that turns journalists into pawns in the hands of rival armed clans that use such crimes in their battle for power," the press freedom group said in a statement.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "deeply shocked" by Adler's murder and called on the transitional government and the Union of Islamic Courts to ensure his killer was prosecuted.
"We mourn the loss of our colleague Martin Adler, a courageous journalist who received international acclaim for his investigative reporting," CPJ's executive director Ann Cooper said in a statement.
"Somalia's transitional government and the Islamic courts which control Mogadishu must now make it a priority to find and prosecute his killer," the statement added.
Residents of Mogadishu echoed that sentiment.
"Now it is the time to know whether the Islamic courts are capable of dealing with violence and crime. Let them arrest the killer," said Ali Abdikarim, a grocer in the capital.
According to the CPJ, at least 13 other journalists have been killed in Somalia since the Horn of Africa nation fell into anarchy in 1991, after the ouster of former dictator Siad Barre.
Since then, Somalia, home to some 10 million people, has lacked an effective government and has been split into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.
But early this month, militia loyal to the city's Islamic courts seized the Somali capital after ousting a US-backed warlord alliance, after four months of fighting that saw more than 360 deaths.