Gunman kills aid worker known for work in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- An Italian aid worker who dedicated 33 years of her life to helping Somalis was shot and killed outside the hospital she founded to treat tuberculosis patients, a Somali official said Monday.

Annalena Tonelli, 60, was shot about 8 p.m. Sunday by a man who had been hiding in the shadow of a tree, waiting for her to emerge from the hospital in Borama, the official said.

"The man fired two rounds from a pistol at her forehead," said Abdulkadir Suleman Ali, who spoke by telephone from the town in northwestern Somalia.

The motive for the killing was not known. The gunman escaped and no suspects have been detained, Ali said.

Colleagues and residents expressed shock at the brutal slaying of a figure beloved for her dedication and closeness to her adopted home. Tonelli's work was all the more remarkable because she was independent, raising her own money and running her own programs. Most aid workers in Africa represent established organizations.

Ruud Lubbers, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said his agency was devastated by Tonelli's death, which came just months after he presented her with the $100,000 Nansen Refugee Award in recognition of her work.

"She dedicated her life to helping others, carrying out her noble mission in remote, difficult places little noticed by the outside world," Lubbers said in a statement. "We mourn the loss of a truly great woman."

A small crowd gathered around Tonelli's hospital as news of the her death spread. She was supposed to have inaugurated a new wing on Monday, Ali said.

"Everybody in Borama liked her for her Somaliness," said Abdisalan Jama Gahayr, a doctor at the hospital. "I worked with her for seven years and her temper never changed, even during the difficult times."

Tonelli had worked with Somalis in Somalia and neighboring Kenya for more than three decades, setting up clinics to fight tuberculosis and creating awareness about AIDS as well as about the harmful effects of female circumcision.

A lawyer by training, she even saw to it that she had the right education for her mission, earning degrees in tropical medicine, community medicine and disease control, the U.N. refugee agency said. She was fluent in Somali.

Tonelli had been in Borama since 1996, using donations from friends and family to set up the 200-bed hospital for tuberculosis patients. The town, 580 miles northwest of Mogadishu, is in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Somalia, a Muslim country on the Horn of Africa, has been beset by chaos and violence, with no central government since longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. Much of the country's infrastructure has been destroyed, causing Somalis to rely on aid groups and charities for health care.

Tonelli was well aware of the dangers of working in the country; she'd been kidnapped once and been subjected to beatings, banditry and death threats in the past, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Simone Wolken, UNHCR's representative for Somalia and Tonelli's friend, said she worked and lived with Somalis because she wanted to help those "most underprivileged."

"She was loved by everybody ... she had a warmth and an aura," Wolken told The Associated Press in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya. "She was commonly called mother by all those she worked with and for at the clinic. That says it all."

Tonelli, who was Roman Catholic, was deeply religious but never joined a convent or an order because she wanted to keep her independence, friends said. She was not married.

The U.N. agency quoted her as saying earlier this year that she did not think of her years in Africa as a sacrifice.

"It's pure happiness. Who else on earth has such a beautiful life," she said.