Main content

Somalia and Italy

Mary Harper reflects on her nerve-wracking, mobile-phone-based relationship with the militants of Al Shabaab; and Alan Johnston tries to evade the thuggish seagulls invading Rome.

What can you do when you see you've got a missed call and a text... from al-Shabaab? Mary Harper reflects on the unnerving communications she's received from the militant fighters who have intimidated targets across Somalia and East Africa.

And there are tidings of a new barbarian invasion of Rome - though this time in feathered form: Alan Johnston feels the menace of the thuggish seagulls moving into the city.

Producer: Polly Hope

Photo: The remains of a car on the streets of Mogadishu on July 5, 2014 after it exploded outside the Somali parliament building in an attack claimed al-Shabaab. (ABDIFITAH HASHI NOR/AFP/Getty Images)

Available now

11 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 Aug 2014 19:50GMT

Broadcast

  • Thu 21 Aug 2014 19:50GMT