Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Yemeni community was electing a local leader in southern Mogadishu when a hand grenade was hurled into the meeting hall, said witness Salah Muridi Abdalah.
"We are not part of the Somali rival groups. We don't know why we became a target," Salah told AFP.
He said a school headmaster was killed and four others who were attending the session were wounded. Diplomats from the Yemeni embassy in Mogadishu were present at the gathering, according to witnesses.
Somalia has been plagued by civil unrest since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Islamist rebels have been carrying out almost daily attacks, mainly in the lawless capital, since their movement was ousted by Ethiopia- backed government forces in December 2006.
The weak Somali government is struggling to exert its authority.
Yemen in January 2007 became the first country to open an embassy in the Somali capital after the fall of the Islamists.
Source: AFP, Feb 14, 2008