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| Africa Horn |
| MSF says it will stay in Somalia |
| 2011-12-31 |
| [Iran Press TV] Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it will continue humanitarian work in Mogadishu, despite a recent attack in which two of its staff were shot and killed in the Somali capital. "MSF will be relocating some staff for security reasons, but remains committed to continuing our humanitarian work in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia," the group, which is also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said in a statement on Friday. On Thursday, Philippe Havet, 53, from Belgium and 44-year-old Andrias Karel Keiluhu from Indonesia were killed by a gunman at the MSF compound in Mogadishu. Havet was country director for MSF and Keiluhu was a doctor. Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said on Friday that the perpetrator of the attack would be brought to justice "at the earliest opportunity." "We welcome those who are willing to come to Somalia to work for the benefit of Somalis. This is a callous attack and a tragic example of an isolated incident and does not reflect any increased risk to international aid workers. I want to reassure the international aid community that we will do everything we can to enable foreign aid workers to operate safely in Somalia." This is not the first time that staff members of Doctors Without Borders, which has been working in Somalia since 1991, have been killed. Three MSF members -- a Kenyan surgeon, a French logistics expert, and a Somali driver -- were killed by a landmine in 2007. |
| Posted by:Fred |