UN culture chief condemns Mogadishu car bombing
Paris: UN culture organisation Unesco’s Director-General has deplored the car bomb attack in the Somali capital Mogadishu that killed a prominent TV reporter and at least 13 other people last month, urging better security for media in the volatile country.
“I condemn the killing of Awil Dahir Salad, Abdiqadir Hassan Yusuf, Mohamed Dubad Gajaow and Ibrahim Mohayadin,” Audrey Azoulay said on Thursday, referring to the slain TV reporter, his driver and two bodyguards.
“These tragic deaths are a call to action: No effort should be spared in seeking to improve the safety of journalists and media workers. The contribution of the media to public debate is essential to conflict resolution and reconstruction.”
Awil Dahir Salad, host of a popular talk show on the London-based Universal TV network, his three support staff and 10 others people including several soldiers were killed when a car exploded at a military checkpoint near Somalia’s presidential palace on December 22.
The Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.