VZCZCXRO0567
OO RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #1432 1881603
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071603Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0258
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA  IMMEDIATE
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RUZEFAA/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS NAIROBI 001432 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S CARSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PTER KPAO SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - SIXTH JOURNALIST KILLED THIS YEAR 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. A Somali journalist was killed on July 4, the 
sixth to die violently this year.  Mohamed Yusuf Ninille, an 
employee of Radio Holy Koran, was hit by stray bullets while 
walking to work.  He died of his injuries after lying at the 
scene of the shooting for nearly three hours.  He left a wife 
and two children.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mohamed Yusuf Ninille, a reporter for Radio Holy 
Koran, was killed by stray bullets on July 4 near Mogadishu's 
Bakara Market as government and Islamic extremist forces 
battled nearby.  Yusuf was the sixth Somali journalist killed 
this year.  Holy Koran Director Mohamed Abdulwahab told us 
Yusuf was crossing a street on his way to the radio's studios 
when he was hit.  He succumbed to his injuries at Medina 
Hospital after lying in the street for nearly three hours as 
fighting raged nearby.  Yusuf had been working for Radio Holy 
Koran for about two years, and had been a journalist for over 
a decade.  He left a wife and two children. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Multiple journalist advocacy groups, including the 
Committee for the Protection of Journalists, International 
Freedom of Expression Exchange, and National Union of Somali 
Journalists issued statements condemning Ninille's death and 
lamenting the plight of Somalia's journalists.  Post will 
convey a letter of condolence to the widow. 
RANNEBERGER