Peace run in Mogadishu a success

A peace run through the streets of Mogadishu, sponsored by the United Nations Sport for Peace Programme in collaboration with the Somali Olympic Committee, was successfully completed on Monday, a UN press release said. The winners of the six races were on Tuesday handed their prizes in front of the Olympic building in south Mogadishu, said the release. More than 650 people, including men, women and 180 children had participated in the races through the city. The races were respectively of 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 meters. The release quotes Philippe Gourdin, the Sport for Peace Programme Coordinator, as saying: "This is the first time in a decade that we saw such a peaceful and animated crowd supporting their fellow brothers and sisters, regardless of their clan affiliation." There had been no security incidents, "and the event went very well". Gourdin described the run as "a successful start for our Progarmme, and we hope to continue and expand with the support of our partners". All registered participants received a Sport for Peace tee-shirt, and the winners collected prizes of US $40, $30 and $10 for first, second and third places respectively.