The suicide bomber who killed at least 22 people at the graduation ceremony on December 3 in Somalia is reported to have been brought up in Denmark, officials say.

According to Somali Information Minister Dahir Gelle, the bomber's parents, who live in Copenhagen, identified their son's body from photographs.

He apparently left Somalia when he was a child and returned to Somalia last year after having spent 20 years in Denmark. He reportedly joined the hard-line Islamist group al-Shabab - although they have previously denied the attack.

Somalia is in many areas under the control of Al-Shabab and other radical Islamist groups. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) also says the bomber was from Denmark, according to local media.

The Copenhagen Post quoted PET as saying the man was in his 20s and was "a Somali citizen who had residence in Denmark".

"As PET has indicated numerous times in the past, there are people with ties to Denmark who have gone through militant Islamic training and radicalisation and who are involved in terror-related activities in several countries, including in Somalia," a PET statement said, according to the newspaper.

The suicide attack took place at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu where students had been graduating from Benadir University. The University was set up in 2002 to train doctors to replace those who had fled overseas or been killed in the civil war.
 

Four Somali ministers were among the dead. Most of the victims were students.

Al-Shabab, which wants to enforce a strict version of Islamic law in Somalia, is accused of having links to al-Qaeda.

It has previously carried out several suicide bombings on government targets - but it has usually claimed responsibility immediately.

Somalia has been ravaged by 18 years of civil war between government troops and Islamic extremists.

Source: BBC

Photo:EPA/BADRI MEDIA