MOGADISHU, Somalia Feb 4 (Garowe Online) - The second director of Somalia's HornAfrik media network was shot and killed in public Wednesday, with witnesses saying the victim sustained several gunshot wounds in the head, Radio Garowe reports.

Said Tahlil Ahmed, who was appointed director in 2007, died at the scene inside Mogadishu's notorious Bakara Market, considered an insurgent stronghold.

The late Said Tahlil Ahmed (may Allah have mercy on him)

Mogadishu's major radio stations went off air immediately in protest, while HornAfrik broadcasted recitations of the Holy Qur'an to commemorate Mr. Tahlil's assassination.

No group claimed responsibility for the killing.

The late HornAfrik director was renowned for preparing a special Friday program, where he discussed the week's top issues and expressed the independent radio station's position in the country's fast-changing political landscape.

Informed sources said Mr. Tahlil was threatened increasingly in recent days, following the election of Islamist moderate Sheikh Sharif Ahmed as Somali president.

Mr. Ahmed Abdisalam, a major shareholder in HornAfrik, was Deputy Prime Minister of the Somali interim government that signed a peace deal to usher in Sheikh Sharif's victory.

In 2007, two senior members of HornAfrik were killed in the same day, including ex-radio director Ali Sharmake, who was killed while attending the funeral of a fellow HornAfrik journalist.

Mr. Tahlil's assassination marks the second reporter killed in Somalia this year, following the shooting death of Radio Shabelle journalist in Afgoye last month.

It is not clear what impact the latest high-profile journalist killing will have on the independent media in Mogadishu, but insiders have said that radio operators have began reviewing editing policy out of fear.

Source: Garowe Online