| International News

The announcement was made by Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad, security representative of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which since June 4 controls Mogadishu and a large part of Somalia.

The remains of Sister Sgorbati, 65, were interred on Sept. 21 at Nazareth Hospital cemetery in Kiambu, Kenya, where she once worked as a nurse.

"We have three men in custody; one is a suspect in the killing and two are being held as witnesses", stated Siad Sept. 21, according to the missionary news agency MISNA.

Security forces of the courts are on the tracks "of a second gunman suspected of involvement in the killing," the UIC official said.

Eyewitness accounts indicate that two gunmen opened fire on Sister Sgorbati and her guard Mohammed Mahmud as they crossed the road between the pediatrics hospital and the SOS Village for children in Mogadishu.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this criminal act", Shaykh Abdulkadir Ali, UIC vice-chairman, said. "We view it as a direct attack on the Somali people. She was here to help the Somali people."

The United Nations secretary-general's special representative for Somalia, François Fall, also condemned the assassination of the Italian missionary. "Sister Leonella Sgorbati had worked in east Africa for about 38 years. She contributed much to the needs of the population, especially children in the Somali capital."

"She was a sweet and gentle woman who loved mothers and children. We have lost a great person", said Halima Hassan, one of many residents of Mogadishu who in these days are gathered around the house of the Consolata missionary sisters to express their grief over a local radio station.