Foreign cameraman shot dead in Mogadishu

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Swedish cameraman covering a demonstration in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Friday, an act immediately condemned by the leadership of the Islamic courts, which controls the city.

The cameraman was covering a demonstration called to show support for a decision by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and the Union of Islamic Courts to recognise and respect each other. The agreement was reached following talks mediated by the Arab League in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Thursday.

Witnesses said the cameraman was shot as he filmed the demonstration. "He was taking pictures of a flag being burned when someone shot him," said an eye witness.

"We want to condemn this unwarranted criminal act in the strongest terms possible," said Shaykh Abdulkadir Ali, UIC vice-chairman. "We want to send our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. I want to assure them that we will find him [the culprit] and we will bring him to justice," he added.

He said that UIC believes that the killing was intended to "make the courts look bad". "We have our suspicions that this act was planned to show Mogadishu and UIC in a bad light," he added.

The Islamic courts militia has seized control of much of southern Somalia, including the capital, since 4 June when they drove out a group of faction leaders who had controlled Mogadishu since 1991 when the administration of Muhammad Siyad Barre was toppled. The UIC has vowed to restore order in Somalia and has started creating Islamic courts in the areas it controls.