Swedish cameraman shot dead at Somalia rally

A gunman shot dead a Swedish cameraman covering a pro-Islamist rally yesterday in Mogadishu, just weeks after its new rulers said they had pacified one of the world's most lawless cities after 15 years of anarchy.

He was filming a protest led by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which took the city from US-backed warlords on June 5 and seized a strategic swathe of the Horn of Africa country.

Witnesses said he was filming at the front of a crowd of thousands. "A gun went off, he went down, that was it," Guardian correspondent Xan Rice, who was present, said.

"There was mass confusion. We were shunted to the side, and the rally was called off." After the lone shot, the crowd fled from the body, leaving sandals strewn on the sand.

The Swedish foreign ministry named the victim as Martin Adler.