Garowe Online (Garowe)
7 October 2008
The chairman of a self-appointed traditional elders' council was shot and killed Tuesday, Radio Garowe reported.
Two men armed with pistols escaped after killing Da'ar Hersi Hoshow, chairman of the Traditional Elders' Council in Hiran region of central Somalia.
Hundreds of angry protestors took to the streets in Beletwein, capital of Hiran, following the elder's assassination and chanted words hostile to Yusuf Indha Ade, an Islamist-allied warlord.
The protest turned violent with demonstrators throwing rocks at Islamic Courts fighters, who effectively control Beletwein and surrounding regions after Ethiopian troops withdrew last month. [ READ: Ethiopia pulls troops out of key Somalia region]
Beletwein businesses were ordered to shut down by the Islamists as an effort to restore security, locals said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the murder, but the assassination of elder Hoshow comes a day after he publicly renounced al Shabaab insurgents' threats against CARE International and International Medical Corps.
The late traditional elder, who held extensive talks with Ethiopian commanders about withdrawing from Beletwein, had suggested that al Shabaab's threat was intended to "starve" the local people.
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