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Tributes have been paid to an influential figure in Islington’s Somali community who was killed in a terror attack in his home country.

Mohamud Mohamed Gure, 61, left his home in Islington four years ago to try to work towards reuniting the country as an MP in Somalia’s federal parliament.

He was one of 15 people killed when terrorist group Al Shabaab detonated a bomb outside a hotel in capital Mogad­ishu before storming in and firing at guests and staff.

Mr Gure leaves a wife and eight children. He had been on the phone to his wife just an hour before the attack.

Mourners from the Somali community have flooded the family home in Holloway since last week’s attack.

Yusuf Ahmad, who formed the Islington Somali Forum with Mr Gure, said: “He was a friendly, very kind man. He understood people’s issues and talked a lot about justice and humanity.

“It was a very difficult decision for him to go back to Somalia. He loved his job and his family – it was a sacrifice.”

Mr Gure trained as an economist in his homeland before coming to Britain in 2001.

Islington councillor Rakhia Ismail, herself a Somalian refugee, said: “He wanted to go back and give Somalis a better life. Unfortunately that took his life.

“He was articulate and intelligent. He was a proud man and was proud to serve the Islington community. This is a shock for the community and of course the young family he has left behind.”

Mr Gure was a member of the Somali Speakers Association, which work­ed to improve education and quality of life in Islington’s Somali community. He was also coordinator for the Finsbury Park-based group Islington Somali Community.

Passionate about the challenges faced by young Somali immigrants, he said in 2006: “There must be intervention at school level to give these youngsters a sense that they can achieve something in this country.

“Many still carry the trauma with them that they brought from Somalia as very young children. Some even saw their parents killed in front of them.

“Many have no father because he was killed in the chaos of Somalia.”

Brother-in-law Abdul­kadir Nagi, 50, said Mr Gure had spoken of his fears for his life during one of his regular visits home last month.

“Everyone was scared for him but he said: ‘We can’t sit back and let the country collapse. Someone has to do this job.’

“It was his dream to see a united Somalia, but it cost him his life.”

It is thought the hotel, where Mr Gure lived, was deliberately targeted as it is frequented by diplomats and lawmakers.

His friend, Abdullahi Jama, 59, who left Willesden to work as an MP in the country, was also killed.

Al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011 but has remained a potent threat in Somalia, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the western-backed government.