STORY: SOMALIA BATTLES EXTREMIST ATTACKS TRT: 3:21 SOURCE: AU/UN IST RESTRICTIONS: This media asset is free

for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is not to be sold on and is restricted for other purposes. All enquiries to news@auunist.org CREDIT REQUIRED: AU/UN IST LANGUAGE: SOMALIA/ENGLISH/NATS DATELINE: 07 SEPTEMBER 2013, MOGADISHU SHOTLIST: 1. Wide shot, civilians walk through remains of the bomb blast 2. Mid Shot, vehicle wreckage after bomb blast 3. Close shot, tire of vehicle wrecked during the bomb blast 4. Wide shot, civilians walk through blast scene with car wreckage in foreground 5. Med shot, civilians walk through blast scene of the Village restaurant 6. Wide shot, Village restaurant wreckage after bomb blast 7. Med shot, mangled iron-sheets 8. Wide shot, bomb blast scene with pan up to billboard poster of president Hassan Sheik Mohamud 9. Med shot, President Mohamud walks into the conference room 10.Close up, poster marking the National Conference on Tackling the Phenomenon of Extremism in Somalia 11. Wide shot, conference room with elders and president at the high table 12. Close shot, Elders and Scholar in attendance at the conference 13. Med shot, attendees at the conference 14. SOUNDBITE (Somalia) President Hassan Sheik Mohamud, Somali President: They said they attack government officials, and that they are fighting against the foreign missions but this is not case any more. They are targeting traditional elders, religions scholars; humanitarians working for the Somali people are targeted because of their work and today their target was innocent people gathered in a public area; people who were in a restaurant going about their normal business. I dont know what to call these people; they are people who want to kill and humiliate Somalis who are 100 percent Muslims. 15. Med shot Elders at the conference 16. Close shot, attendee at the conference 17. SOUNDBITE (Somalia) President Hassan Sheik Mohamud, Somali President: We are large in number compared to them, we are stronger than they are, we are more intelligent than they are, we have more wealth than they have, we know the religion more than they do and we have more experience than them, yet they are terrorizing people. There is something wrong with that. We need to consult together

and discuss about it. It is not for the government alone or for the religious people alone but for all Somali people as a whole. 18. Wide shot, exterior of the hotel hosting conference 19. Med shot, guests walk outside the hotel 20. SOUNDBITE (English) Hassan Sheik Ali, Somali Scholar: Because of the pain, because of the crisis, because of the problem, it's time to come together and have a common ground and then to find ways as I said before to solve this problem and I have will and wish that goal can be achieved. 21. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Hassan Mohamud, Somali Imam based in the USA: The cancer is as we see like tribalism is a cancer this is another cancer plus cancer that is destroying our people and our society and the future and also one of the like I would say big obstacle forming constructive government which is what we are working on. 22. Wide shot, Presidential convoy leaves the hotel STORY: Extremist militants al Shabaab have claimed a double suicide attack on the popular Village Restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu that killed 18 people and injured over twenty more. The suicide attackers detonated two bombs at around lunchtime; one from a car bomb and the other from a second suicide bomber with a vest who detonated himself as people were trying to help those injured in the first blast. The latest attack came minutes before President Hassan Sheik Mohamud opened a National Conference on Tackling Extremism in Somalia. The government-organised conference drew imminent Somali scholars, elders and Imams from both within the country and internationally to come up with strategies to fight against the extremism of the Al Qaeda linked al Shabaab group. President Hassan Sheik Mohamud said that they no longer only attacked his government and its international partners, but the Somali people as well. They said they attack government officials, and that they are fighting against the foreign missions but this is not case any more. They are targeting traditional elders, religions scholars; humanitarians working for the Somali people are targeted because of their work and today their target was innocent people gathered in a public area; people who were in a restaurant going about their normal business. I dont know what to call these people; they are people who want to kill and humiliate Somalis who are 100 per cent Muslims, said President Mohamud.

The five-day conference has pulled together over 150 people with the hope of tackling extremism and looking for ways to confront and defeat extremist ideology within Somalia. The extremist militant group al Shabaab were pushed out of the capital in 2011 by the Somalia National Army (SNA) with support from the African Union Force (AMISOM). They have since lost other urban areas they once controlled, but still pose a challenge to Somalias relative peace and the rapid development the country has experienced in the last two years. President Hassan Sheik Mohamud challenged all those attending the conference that the fight against extremism in Somalia is not just for the government or religious leaders to tackle, but also for all Somali people to defeat. We are large in number compared to them, we are stronger than they are, we are more intelligent than they are, we have more wealth than they have, we know the religion more than they do and we have more experience than them, yet they are terrorizing people. There is something wrong with that, said President Mohamud. We need to consult together and discuss about it. It is not for the government alone or for the religious people alone but for all Somali people as a whole. Hassan Sheik Ali, a Somali Scholar was at the conference and had this to say, Because of the pain, because of the crisis, because of the problem, it's time to come together and have a common ground and then to find ways as I said before to solve this problem and I have will and wish that goal can be achieved. said Sheik Ali. Hassan Mohamud is a Professor and Somali Imam based in the USA; he flew down to attend the conference. The cancer is as we see like tribalism is a cancer this is another cancer plus cancer that is destroying our people and our society and the future and also one of the like I would say big obstacle forming constructive government which is what we are working on. Adds Hassan Mohamud. The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif has condemned todays terrorist attack on the residents of the Somali capital and offered his condolences to the families and friends of those killed. He said it was an attempt by Al Shabaab to derail Somalias continuing recovery. He added AMISOM will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Somali people and support them as they rebuild their country and will not allow a violent minority to drag them back to the days of chaos and anarchy. END.