MOGADISHU, Somalia, June 19, 2007 – Somalia's presidential spokesman was shot in the neck while he was stuck in a traffic jam, in the latest assassination attempt on a government official in the chaotic nation, authorities said Tuesday.

Hussein Mohamoud Hussein was taken to a hospital in neighboring Kenya and released.

"He walked out of the hospital, he is OK," said Peter Elwelu, head of the Ugandan troops who are in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force.

The spokesman was attacked Monday night at a main intersection in Mogadishu. His bodyguard, who was in the car, was not injured.

"The gunman fired one single shot at the spokesman and disappeared, taking advantage of the melee that followed the gunshot," said Abdi Dahir Yare, who owns an Internet cafe nearby.

He said police fired bullets into the air and questioned several people, but made no arrests.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has survived three assassination attempts since May 2005, and insurgents have been attacking government convoys in recent months.

Islamic insurgents, along with clan militiamen, have been battling government and Ethiopian forces since they drove an Islamic movement from Mogadishu six months ago. More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against one another, defending clan fiefdoms. The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but has struggled to assert any real control.

The ousted Islamic movement ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somali for six months last year, during which they sought to impose an Islamic state.

Source: AP