Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Najib Receives Report On Somali Incident

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- The government of Somalia handed over to the Malaysian government a comprehensive report on the Sept 2 incident in Mogadishu which claimed the life of a Malaysian television cameraman.

Somali Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Mohammud H. Ibrahim handed the report to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the latter's office at Parliament House, here Tuesday.

Bernama TV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39, was killed by a stray bullet when covering a humanitarian mission of the Putera 1Malaysia Club to help famine-struck Somalis. TV3 cameraman Aji Sarigar Mazlan was injured in the incident.

At the meeting, Mohamed, who is also Somalia's foreign minister, conveyed his government's open apology to the people of Malaysia over the incident.

At a news conference, Mohamed gave the assurance that his government will take all efforts to protect Malaysians when they go to Somalia.

"I would like to express my sincere condolences to the entire people (of Malaysia) and to the government of Malaysia regarding the incident. I have presented on behalf of my government today the report and given our condolences to him (prime minister).

"Our stay here is primarily to say sorry to the people of Malaysia for what has happened. (In) my capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, I will make all the efforts to protect our brothers in the future when they come to help us in Somalia," he told reporters after the 30-minute meeting with Najib.

Mohamed, who was accompanied by Somalia's Sea Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Ahmed Hassan Aden, said their visit was also aimed at enhancing bilateral relations.

At their meeting, Mohamed said, Najib expressed his willingness to help Somalia rebuild and reconstruct the country.

"We hope that Malaysia will continue giving its support to Somalia. This is my first visit to Malaysia ... thanks to the prime minister for giving us a warm welcome," he said.

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