/ 29 January 2001

ROCKET GRENADE ENDS KHAT QUARREL

SOMALI gunmen destroyed a Kenyan-registered light aircraft with rocket fire in the southern Somali port town of Kismayo after quarrelling over proceeds from khat, a mild leafy narcotic chewed by many Somalis. The pilot jumped out of the plane. Most khat chewed in Somalia is flown in daily from neighbouring Kenya in small aircraft.