Monday, April 13, 2009
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Rebels in Somalia launched a mortar attack on US Congressman Donald Payne, shortly after he visited the capital Mogadishu on Sunday. They fired at the city's airport, where Mr Payne was getting ready to leave for home. Although nobody at the airport was killed, three people were injured when a mortar shell landed in an adjoining neighbourhood.It is rare that US functionaries visit the strife-torn Somalia. Mr Payne, who represents the state of New Jersey and is a member of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, had traveled to Mogadishu for talks with President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed about piracy off the country's coast.
The attack comes less than a day after a kidnapped US sailor was rescued by the US navy. On Friday, French commandos freed four French citizens on board a hijacked yacht. Both rescues took place in the Gulf of Aden and resulted in the deaths of five Somali pirates. When news of the latest rescue emerged, other Somali pirates swore vengeance and threatened violence against US and French ships.