By Andrew Cawthorne
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Hundreds of mourners packed a Catholic church in Kenya on Thursday to bid a last farewell to an Italian nun shot dead in Somalia — as fellow sisters vowed not to abandon their humanitarian work despite the dangers.
“The (Somali) people love us, they want us. We know the risks, but we will go back soon to continue our work,” Sister Gianna Irene Peano told Reuters at the funeral in Nairobi.
Her colleague, Leonella Sgorbati, was gunned down on Sunday at a Mogadishu children’s hospital in the latest spate of violence in the conflict-torn Horn of Africa nation.
The nun’s death, followed by Somalia’s first known suicide bombing in an attempt to kill President Abdullahi Yusuf, have raised fears of a new wave of extremist violence in the Horn of Africa nation, already suffering 15 years of lawlessness.
“She was in agony at the end, but she did not complain. In fact, she said ‘Forgive, forgive, I forgive’,” added Peano, who was at Sgorbati’s side when she died from her wounds, but had no idea who the killers might be.
At Thursday’s service, representatives of Sgorbati’s Missionaries of the Consolation order, based in Nepi near Rome, were joined by senior Catholic figures from around Africa, regional officials and diplomats in an emotive ceremony.
In his homily, Giorgio Bertin, bishop of Djibouti and Somalia, noted the smile on the face of Sgorbati, whose body was laid out for viewing. He urged mourners to draw positive lessons from her years working for the poor in Somalia and Kenya.
“CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM DIE TOGETHER”
“Her life shows that a new earth is possible, that a new Somalia is possible,” Bertin said, adding it was probably no coincidence a Somali bodyguard died with her.
“The death of an Italian with a Somali, a European with an African, a white with someone almost black, a Christian with a Muslim, a woman with a man, tells us that it is possible to live together as we die together,” he added.
Sgorbati, 65, had worked for the Consolation order since 1963, spending three decades in Kenya before transferring to Somalia where she taught nursing at the SOS children’s hospital.
Often warned of the threat, the nuns had in the past also suffered a kidnapping and bomb.
“I hope Sister Leonella will be the last of the martyrs for Somalia,” Bertin added in his address.
The United Nations’ special envoy to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, appealed to all involved in the current standoff between Mogadishu-based Islamists and Yusuf’s provincial-based interim government to work for peace.
“I wish I could paint a bright picture for Somalia today, but there are too many clouds, too many uncertainties on the horizon. … I appeal once again to everyone with interest in a batter future for Somalia, to give this peace process a chance.”
The Islamists, who took Mogadishu and a swathe of south Somalia earlier this year, have met twice with Yusuf’s government for talks in Khartoum aimed at an eventual power-sharing deal for the nation of 10 million.
But analysts say the two sides remain far apart, and the recent violence — with the hallmarks of al Qaeda-style attacks — have probably worsened that. Critics of the Islamists say they harbour militants.
Somalia has been without central government since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The Islamists say their priority is to restore law and order, something Yusuf’s government has failed to do from its base in Baidoa.
SOURCE: Reuters , Sept. 21,2006
