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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lawmaker’s killing prompts riots

The Spokesman-Review

A Cabinet member was assassinated Friday as he left a mosque, enraging hundreds of Somalis who rioted in the streets screaming, “We want a government that can restore law and order!”

It was the second shooting of a lawmaker this week and the latest blow to an administration that has watched helplessly as Islamic militants with alleged links to al-Qaida took control of the capital and much of southern Somalia.

People began streaming into the streets just hours after a gunman opened fire on Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, the minister for constitutional and federal affairs. Seven people were arrested in the killing, said Police Chief Aadin Biid.

Two days earlier, Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, chairman of the parliamentary committee for constitutional affairs, was shot and wounded. It was not clear whether the shootings were connected, although the men had worked together.

KINSHASA, Congo

President calls for peace during vote

President Joseph Kabila called on Congo’s citizens Friday to shun violence during this weekend’s historic elections, telling thousands of cheering supporters that their votes can bring peace to the Central African country.

But unrest continued ahead of Sunday’s vote, with presidential candidate Azarias Ruberwa claiming one of his armed guards died and another was injured when Kabila’s security forces fired on them. The election is Congo’s first democratic presidential ballot after more than four decades of violence and unrest.

Kabila, 35, is the front-runner. He became president under a power-sharing deal when his father was assassinated five years ago.

An estimated 30 people died in politically related violence during a month of campaigning by 33 presidential and thousands of legislative candidates.

LIMA, Peru

New leader vows to fight poverty

Alan Garcia returned to the presidency of Peru on Friday, pledging to battle poverty 16 years after ending his first term with the country racked by economic chaos and spiraling political violence.

Garcia attacked waste in the administration of outgoing President Alejandro Toledo, a Stanford University economics graduate and Peru’s first democratically elected leader of Indian descent.

Toledo leaves behind solid economic growth – 6.5 percent last year – but poverty figures have barely budged, with more than half of Peruvians surviving on less than $2 a day.

Garcia said that in the first 17 months of his administration he plans to spend $1.6 billion to build roads, schools and health clinics in rural areas.

Garcia’s 1985-1990 administration ended in hyperinflation and food shortages.