Somalia--Attempt on PM's Life

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 002135 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E AND AF A/S FRAZER E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2017 TAGS: PTER PGOV SO SUBJECT: Somalia--Attempt on PM's Life Classified by Poloff John O'Leary. Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (U) Assassins attempted to kill Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi yesterday (5/18). According to press reports, Gedi and his entourage were returning from a ceremony marking the departure of the bodies of four slain Ugandan peacekeepers at Mogadishu International Airport. TFG security arrested one attacker; but a second escaped, according to the press. ¶2. (C) According to Gedi's Special Counselor, French national Daniel Bourzat, who was riding in the second car of the convoy at the time of the attack, the explosion occurred just in front of his vehicle. Bourzat said the device was a wire-detonated landmine that left a crater in the road. He noted that Gedi was in the fourth or fifth vehicle in the convoy, which was going to the airport, not returning from it. The counselor confirmed that TFG security had arrested one individual whom they were certain was one of the perpetrators. Ranneberger