MOGADISHU, April 13 (Reuters) - Somalia's militant Islamist rebel group al Shabaab said on Monday it was behind mortars fired at U.S. congressman Donald Payne as he left the anarchic Horn of Africa nation after a rare visit by a U.S. politician. "We fired on the airport to target the so-called democratic congressman sent by (U.S. President Barack) Obama," Sheikh Hussein Ali, an al Shabaab spokesman, told Reuters. (Reporting by Mohamed Ahmed, Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Jon Boyle)
U.S. Congressman Donald Payne (left) sits with Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid in Mogadishu's presidential place April 13, 2009. The crew of a U.S. ship attacked off Somalia called on President ...
