Peyton, a BBC producer, was shot outside her hotel in the Somali
capital. Peyton underwent surgery at a local hospital but died later of
internal bleeding, according to the BBC.
News reports
said Peyton was shot outside the Sahafi Hotel, where she had arrived
just hours earlier to begin a series of reports on the strife-torn
country. Several foreign reporters were based at the heavily guarded
hotel.
Agence France-Presse quoted witnesses as saying that assailants
targeted Peyton before speeding off in a white sedan. The vehicle was
later found abandoned in a central Mogadishu neighborhood, Mohammed
Warsame Doleh, the acting police chief, told AFP.
Peyton’s attackers were believed to be two independent militiamen,
according to the National Union of Somali Journalists, which conducted
its own investigation into the slaying. No official legal action was
taken.
The BBC said Peyton had spent the last 10 years in Africa and was based
in Johannesburg. She had worked for the BBC since 1993 and had also
worked as a producer and trainer for the South African Broadcasting
Corporation in Johannesburg.
Foreign reporters had just returned to Mogadishu, where efforts were
under way to install a transitional reconciliation government. Local
sources said Peyton may have been targeted to discourage foreigners and
maintain a climate of insecurity.
Violence
and lawlessness are rife in Somalia, which has had no effective central
government since the fall of dictator Siad Barre in 1991.