Mogadishu - Militiamen have shot dead a member of Somalia's new parliament in the capital, Mogadishu, witnesses said.
A vehicle pulled up outside Hassan Ahmed Elmi's home in the capital on Sunday night and two militiamen jumped down to the street, firing several bullets at him. He died immediately and was buried on Monday.
The killing took place inside the Medina district of Mogadishu, a stronghold of Muse Sudi Yalahow, one of the clan warlords who have vowed to stop Somalia's new government and parliament from operating.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Muse Sudi denied that his militiamen had anything to do with the murder, but local residents said gunmen belonging to the faction had been to Elmi's house several times before with the intention of killing him.
Elmi was one of 245 people elected to Somalia's new parliament at a peace conference of the country's rival clans in neighbouring Djibouti in August.
The parliament then chose Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, a veteran politician, as president - Somalia's first since falling into chaos following the overthrow of Marxist dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in early 1991.
The new president has named his government, but restoring central authority and rebuilding the country will be a huge task and he faces strong opposition from Mogadishu's warlords and the breakaway northern regions of Somaliland and Puntland. - Reuters