Somalia: al Shabaab suicide bomber kills lawmaker

People gather at the scene of a suicide car comb attack in the Hamarwayne district of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, July 16, 2012. The car bomb killed a Somali lawmaker allied to the president, an official said on Monday, in an attack claimed by the al Shabaab militant group that is fighting the Western-backed government. (Reuters Pictures)

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A car bomb killed a Somali lawmaker allied to the president, an official said on Monday, in an attack claimed by the al Shabaab militant group that is fighting the Western-backed government. [...]

"The MP himself was driving the car. A bomb had been placed in his car without his awareness," deputy Mogadishu Mayor Warsame Mohamed told reporters.

"The MP died. His flesh and documents are in the car," said Mohamed, referring to Mohamud Abdi Ibrahim, who was also a former minister for humanitarian affairs and trade.

Al Shabaab claimed the attack shortly afterwards.

"We targeted the MP and killed him with an assassination bomb," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, said. "We managed to place a bomb in his car. Government officials and those who work with them are infidels."

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