Statement of the UN Special Representative to Somalia Nicholas Kay on the attack on Ahmad Muhammad Islam in Kismayo

NEW YORK, September 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia condemns in the strongest terms the violent attack on a vehicle in which Ahmad Muhammad Islam Madobe, leader of the interim Jubba administration was traveling. Ahmad Muhammad Islam is reported to have escaped serious injury however his bodyguards and innocent civilians were killed when his car was hit by another vehicle carrying explosives in the port city of Kismayo, southern Somalia.

SRSG Kay said, "Ahmad Madobe is a key partner in the search for peace and reconciliation in Somalia. It is reprehensible that he would become a target for extremist violence at a time when he is playing a key role in statebuilding and peacebuilding." SRSG Kay further called for calm and restraint from all sides in the aftermath of the attack.

He expressed his sincere condolences to those who lost loved ones and wished all those injured in the attack a quick recovery.