However, the ONLY FRIEND of Somalia in the US Congress, Donald Payne (RIP), was the first Congressman to visit Mogadishu. He was a vocal critic of the EThiopian occupation and challenged the TFG to stop war crimes. Somalia's truest friend and his death was a great loss. Former Congressman Donald Payne of Northern New Jersey, you are missed.
N.J. Congressman Donald Payne speaks after attack in Mogadishu
By Ralph R. Ortega
on April 13, 2009 at 9:32 PM Print
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The plane carrying a New Jersey congressman on a fact-finding mission to war-torn Somalia was fired on by errant mortars as it took off from Mogadishu airport but arrived safely in Nairobi, Kenya.
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.) said in a telephone interview from Kenya that he did not learn of the attack until landing in Nairobi.
Mohamed Sheikh Nor/AP U.S. congressman Donald Payne, left, has discussions with Somalia Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid today in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
"We took off and were not aware of the shelling," he said. "We found out when we got on the ground."
Nineteen Somali civilians were injured the mortars landed in residential areas near the airport. None of the six shells landed in the airport.
The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab later claimed responsibility for the mortar barrage in a statement posted on a militant Web site, according to the terrorism monitoring group SITE.
The group claimed it launched the attack after learning of Payne's visit, according to SITE. The militants, who have targeted peacekeepers in their attacks, strongly oppose the new Somali government. The U.S. State Department says its leaders have links to al Qaeda.
Payne said he did not know if the mortar attack was related to Sunday's daring and successful rescue of an American freighter captain being held hostage by pirates.
"I don't know, and I don't want to speculate," he said.
He said his trip was not announced in Somalia, and his departure today was later than planned.
Payne, chairman of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and global health, had spoken today at a news conference in the presidential palace in Mogadishu, telling reporters he met with Somalia's president and prime minister during his visit. They discussed piracy, security and cooperation between Somalia and the United States.
In the telephone interview from Kenya, Payne said a new Somali government in place only two months was taking strides to unify most of the country's warring factions and was working on a plan to combat piracy. War-ravaged Somalia has not had an effective government for 18 years and is split among competing militias.
Payne told CNN he believed the United States could help lessen the piracy problem with strong support of Somalia's new government.
"I believe that a stable Somalia is really a key to a stable Africa," Payne told the network.
"I think that if we support this new government that we would see a decline in piracy," he added. "I think that it would be a dollar certainly well spent, because President [Sheikh] Sharif feels that you can stop piracy on the ground. Once they get out into the water, it gets very difficult."
Payne was the only lawmaker on the trip, but was traveling with a Library of Congress staff member who is an expert on Africa, according to his press secretary, Kerry McKenney.
The congressman's son, Newark Councilman Donald Payne Jr., said he was glad no one on his father's plan was injured by the mortar fire.
"They all missed. Good thing they can't shoot," he said.
He said he believed the attack was launched in retaliation for the killing of three Somali pirates Sunday by U.S. Navy snipers, which ended a five-day standoff over the hijacked ship and rescued Capt. Richard Phillips.
"I'm sure news travels very quickly," Payne Jr. said. "It's likely they knew what they were doing."
The congressman is not due back in the United States until tomorrow or Thursday.
Before Payne left for the Horn of Africa, he was briefed by the State Department, which discouraged him from making the trip.
"We provided the congressman with a briefing and gave him a very frank and straightforward assessment of the security situation on the ground," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters, noting the department has issued an advisory warning Americans not to travel to Somalia.
"We were aware of the threat," Payne said.
McKenney said Payne made the trip because "he felt it was important to travel there to see firsthand what was happening."
Payne Jr. said his father has made enemies in Africa by speaking out against oppressive regimes.
"He's not liked very much because he's critical of any government not doing right by its people," he said.
Payne travels to Africa often and his plane was fired at during an earlier trip to Somalia about 15 years ago, the congressman said.
"It's been a dangerous place for a long time," Payne Jr. said.
In October 1993, rebels shot down two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu and then engaged U.S. soldiers in a 12-hour fire fight. Eighteen U.S. Army rangers on a mission to capture a Somali warlord were killed in the attack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
he's a good dude. Met him a lot during couple summers ago when I interned on the Hill