NAIROBI
(AFP) - The Somali autonomous region of Puntland has shut a radio station and
detained its editor, media watchdogs said Sunday, as attacks on journalists
escalated in the troubled nation.
Authorities shut Radio Garowe in the central region on Friday and arrest
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| Somali soldiers patrol the streets of Mogadishu, August 2007. The Somali autonomous region of Puntland... |
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its head Abdi Farah Jama Mire, producer Mohammed Dahir Yusuf, and editor Isse
Abdullahi Mohammed.
Two have been released, but Abdullahi Mohammed was still in custody, the
National Union of Somali Journalists said in a statement.
Puntland authorities have not given any reason why the radio was closed.
Rights groups have called for protection for journalists in Somalia,
where eight have been killed this year and several others arrested, ambushed or
robbed.
Somalia ranks as the
second deadliest country worldwide this year after Iraq for journalists, according to
the US-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists.
Gunmen on Friday killed Bashir Nur Gedi, the head of Shabelle Media Network,
the second biggest in the Horn of Africa nation.
"2007 is turning into a nightmare year for Somali journalism,"
said Aidan White, secretary general for the Brussels-based International
Federation for Journalists.
Islamist militants, who were ousted from
Mogadishu this year by
Ethiopia-backed government forces, have carried out
near-daily attacks in the capital.
Somalia
has been torn apart by conflict since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre set off a prolonged power struggle
that has left tens of thousands dead.
