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Members of the Islamist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in which mortar shells were fired at Payne's plane. Payne was unharmed. He tells NPR's Robert Siegel that the attack was "an act of desperation" from extremists who want to prevent Americans from helping Somalia's fledgling government to succeed.
"They want to send a message that American officials, aid workers should be fearful and stay away," Payne says. "That's because I think they, too, know that with some support, the new government can succeed."
Somalia's unity government has been in place in Mogadishu since January, but it doesn't have control over most of the country. The Somali pirates operate in the vacuum of a failed state. "And so the more that the fear mongers persist, the vacuum will remain," Payne says.
Payne says the Somali leaders he met with want to see an end to piracy. "They said that the pirates do not represent Somalia," Payne says. "There is no incentive for the government, and they see piracy as a great deterrent to their success."..http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103093317&ft=1&f=1003
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