Swedish journalist slain in Somali capital, security fears mount.

MOGADISHU (AFP) - A Swedish journalist was shot and killed in the Somali capital while attending a mass demonstration organized by the Islamic courts union that seized the city this month after fierce battles.

Witnesses said Friday an unknown gunman shot the journalist, identified in Stockholm as Martin Adler, in the chest at close range at a rally in south Mogadishu where some 4,000 Islamists were demonstrating in support of the courts, underscoring security concerns.

The killing came less than 24 hours after the Somalia’s largely powerless transitional government and the increasingly powerful courts signed a mutual recognition and truce agreement in talks in Sudan.

Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman Nina Ersman said, “We have identified the man as Martin Adler, a photographer and Swedish citizen.” Adler worked for, among others, Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, the paper confirmed.

“He was shot and killed while attending the rally,” said Mohamed Amin, a Somali journalist who was at the scene. “He died on the spot,” Amin told AFP.

A second witness said a gunman had shot the journalist in the chest, near his heart in deliberate fashion, shortly after the man had snapped several still photographs of demonstrators and that the crowd had scattered in panic. “It was not an accident,” the witness told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security fears. “It was an intentional murder by someone who wanted to kill a journalist.”

The chairman of the Islamic courts union, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, condemned the killing, saying he was personally very upset. “It is barbaric and we will punish those responsible,” he told AFP. “I send my condolences to the family of the deceased, his nation and the agency he was serving.”