Christian Widow in Somalia Murdered by Al-Shabaab

ICC Note:
A Christian widow whose husband was murdered by al-Shabaab last December was shot and killed earlier this month by the same terrorist group, leaving her five children orphaned. Al-Shabaab targeted this couple because the group discovered that both husband and wife had converted from Islam to Christianity, which under al-Shabaab’s interpretation of Islam is a capital offense. Fartun Omar, the Christian widow, received death threats in weeks leading up to her murder. It seems that al-Shabaab stalked her before ultimately killing her. With both their mother and father killed, what will happen to the couple’s childern?                                       
4/23/2013 Somalia (Morning Star News) – Islamist militants in Somalia have killed the widow of a Christian who was slain for his faith in December, leaving the couple’s five children orphaned, sources said.
Islamic extremist Al Shabaab rebels shot 42-year-old Fartun Omar to death on April 13 in Buulodbarde, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Beledweyne, according to Abdi Aziz Suleiman of Radio Shebelle in Beledweyne. The extremists had been searching for her for several months, as they knew that she was a secret Christian like her late husband, Mursal Isse Siad, sources said.
Siad had been receiving death threats for leaving Islam. After his death, initially Omar fled the area with her five children and at one time had received protection from from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers, sources said.
“A week before she was killed, rumors were flying that the Al Shabaab were looking for her,” one of Omar’s neighbors said.
Due to the threat of persecution, Omar on April 10 decided to leave the central Somalian city of Beledweyne by bus with another neighbor to seek refuge with relatives, the first neighbor said. On reaching Buulobarde, which is controlled by Al Shabaab, militants at a roadblock ordered passengers to disembark and questioned them one by one.
“Unfortunately, she was not cleared by the Al Shabaab,” said the neighbor who accompanied her. “I only heard one of them saying, ‘This is the woman whose husband was killed last year. Do not let her in.’”
The other passengers were allowed to board again, and the bus left, with Omar’s neighbor suddenly responsible for caring for her children. The oldest is a 15-year-old girl.
“On April 13, I received news from Beledweyne that a woman in Buulobarde had been killed by the Al Shabaab,” the neighbor said. “Soon I found out that it was Fartun Omar.”
Sources said Omar was found dead on the outskirts of Buulobarde with bullet wounds to her right side.
“The children are in safe hands, and I am trying to look for some of the relatives of Omar,” the neighbor said. “The only problem that I am experiencing at the moment is that the small children are crying for their mother.”
The neighbor added that the children need help meeting their daily needs.
Two unidentified, masked men on Dec. 8, 2012 shot Omar’s 55-year-old husband, Siad, outside his home in Beledweyne, 206 miles (332 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, for leaving Islam, Muslim and Christian sources said (see Morning Star News, Dec. 14, 2012). The area was under government control, but Al Shabaab rebels who have vowed to rid the country of Christianity were present in nearby Buulodbarde.
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