Wisma Putra surveyed Somalia before aid mission

Wisma Putra had sent a team of officials to look into safety measures in Somalia before the Kelab Putera 1Malaysia humanitarian aid mission went there, said Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.

He said Malaysian Ambassador to Libya, Zulkifli Yaacob, had also gone to Somalia and made the necessary arrangements for the mission.

"We needed to be very certain that the country we were going to, provided ample and satisfactory protection, which they did, but this is one of those unexpected things," he told reporters after joining the family of slain BernamaTV cameraman

Noramfaizul Mohd Nor for the arrival of the journalist's remains from Mogadishu at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Subang near here today.

Noramfaizul, 39, was killed on Friday after he was hit by a stray bullet while travelling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle with other Malaysian media personnel covering the humanitarian aid mission to Somalia.

Anything could happen

Anifah said Wisma Putra normally assisted local humanitarian aid missions in conducting ground and safety assessments of the country which they headed to.

Although it was not compulsory for Malaysian missions abroad to submit reports to the ministry, they however, would normally submit detailed assessments to the ministry, he said.

"After obtaining the information, we will help in getting assistance from the host country of the mission. We will assist them in the best way we can," he said.

Anifah said however, the decision to proceed with any mission depended on the organisers as they were well aware of the high risks involved.

In a warring zone, anything could happen, no matter how much protection one took, he added.

Anifah also hoped the Somali government, which had promised to come up with a thorough investigation into the fatal incident, would furnish him the report as soon as possible.