Somali Islamist chief says will find cameraman's killer

Somalia's newly powerful Islamists yesterday, expressed their condolences to the family of a Swedish cameraman who was shot dead during a rally in Mogadishu and said they made three more arrests in their hunt for the killer.

Islamic Courts Union (ICU) Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed blamed the attack on those who wanted to destabilise Mogadishu, weeks after its new Islamist rulers said they had pacified one of the world's most lawless cities after 15 years of anarchy.

Martin Adler was shot dead at the front of a crowd of thousands while filming a protest led by the ICU on Friday.

"Nairobi-based ICU spokesman Abdurahman Ali Osman said three more people had been arrested in connection with the shooting and a woman arrested on Friday was still being questioned.

Osman said on Friday the ICU blamed the shooting on followers of a lesser-known warlord, Abdi Awale Qaybdiid, who stayed in Mogadishu despite the Islamists' takeover. He later said this was not certain but added that Qaybdiid had been told to co-operate or would be "attacked".

Islamist militia took Mogadishu on June 5 from secular warlords, widely believed to be backed by the United States, and advanced into the hinterland.

Adler, a prize-winning freelance cameraman who covered more than two dozen war zones in his career, was of Anglo-Swedish origin and was married with two daughters. His body was flown into neighbouring Kenya yesterday, airport sources said.

The shooting was a blow to the ICU leadership, which has made strenuous efforts to present a moderate image to offset accusations that it harbours Al-Qaeda linked extremists. Ahmed said a new security office for journalists would be set up.

The Islamists have effectively flanked the government's base in the provincial town of Baidoa, raising fears Ethiopia may intervene to protect the administration and spark new conflict.

The Islamists and the interim government signed a deal in Khartoum on Thursday aimed at preventing confrontation and starting negotiations. Yesterday, scores of Baidoa residents took to the streets to support the Khartoum deal.