SOMALIA.— A Malaysian camera man has been killed in a shooting attack in Mogadishu, Somalia. Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, a cameraman with Malaysia’s national Bernama TV, was killed while traveling with the aid agency Putera 1Malaysia Club on a humanitarian mission.

The aid agency arrived in Mogadishu on Monday, September 29th bringing 250 tons of food and medicine for Somalian families.

According to Bernama TV journalist, Khairulanuar Yahaya, the group was in a truck headed into the city commercial center to send visuals that were recorded earlier that day. Afterwards, Nor was headed to the outskirts of Mogadishu to cover a Malaysian- sponsored project to help Somali drought victims on behalf of Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama.

Shots were fired at the government truck that was accompanying their vehicle, Noramfaizul who was sitting by the door was hit by a stray bullet which pierced his lungs. Another cameraman, Aji Siregar Mazlan, also suffered injuries.

Noramfaizul passed away while receiving medical treatment.

The shooting took place near a busy junction known as Kilometer Four, reportedly the shots were fired by African Union peacekeepers.

Tan Su Li, an Astro Awani journalist, said she was seated in front of Noramfaizul when she heard the shots. “I turned back and saw Noramfaizul in pain. We quickly got out of the place,” she said.

In an interview with Bernama, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said of Noramfaizul, “He was willing to take the risk to provide extensive coverage of our missions to help others in many parts of the world.”

Reporters Without Borders, has ranked Somalia as one of the deadliest countries for media personnel, with 23 media workers killed since 2007.

“Nor joins the long list of journalists killed in the course of their work in Somalia. Despite the recent retreat by the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, the violence and fighting in Mogadishu have not stopped and covering Somalia continues to be extremely dangerous,” the group explained.

Source: Malaysian Star

MALAYSIA.— More than 20,000 demonstrators arrived at Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, demanding electoral reforms.

Confrontations between pro-reform demonstrators and police soon turned violent, precisely what government officials claimed they sought to avoid by banning the demonstrations.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government declared the demonstration illegal and the police sealed off parts of the capital in advance, warning individuals who participated in demonstrations that they would face “stern action”.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of demonstrators tried to reach independence stadium, the site of Malaysia’s declaration of independence from Britain over 50 years ago, from various parts of the capital, chanting “Long live the people” and carrying yellow balloons and flowers as they marched.

Police arrested over 1,000 people in Operation Erase Bersih, referring to the Bersih coalition the group that organised the rally, several senior opposition officials were arrested.

Ambiga Sreenavasan, head of the Bersih coalition, stated that the suppression of the protests had “stirred a sense of outrage against the exhibition of raw power by our government… what is the necessity for a show of might against right? No matter what, right will always prevail.”

Police fired numerous rounds of tear gas and chemical-laced water in repeated attempts to disperse the crowds. Witnesses claim police armed with batons charged at some protesters and dragged them into trucks.

Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, stated, “We were attacked from both corners but what was horrifying is that the police shot directly at the protesters, some of them clearly aimed at me personally, so my security assistants had to cover me and one was badly injured because the canister was shot direct, he is badly injured,” Anwar told the Associated Press news agency. “This is a simple portrayal of the extent of desperation of brutal action approved by the Prime Minister Najib.”

More than 200 activists have been arrested nationwide in the past two weeks for trying to promote the rally.

The demonstration organizers called for reforms following accusations that the Malaysian election commission is biased towards the ruling coalition, which has been in power since independence from Britain in 1957. The commission has denied the accusations.