Noose on media tightened
2007-11-14 23:04
Mogadishu - Mogadishu's mayor on Wednesday ordered media groups and journalists to register with authorities or be barred from working in the lawless Somali capital, where a deadly insurgency is raging.
In the latest media crackdown, security forces ordered Mogadishu-based Radio Simba and Radio Banadir off the air, a day after a similar fate befell Radio Shabelle.
Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb said: "I call on the media and newspapers to register within 30 days in order to keep working in Mogadishu, otherwise they will not be allowed to operate."
The mayor's office said the order applied to radio stations, television channels, newspapers and journalists representing foreign media in the seaside capital, where Ethiopian-backed Somali forces were battling Islamist insurgents.
Groups have dismissed the charges
Authorities have accused the independent media for fanning conflict in the capital, notably interviewing anti-government elements, broadcasting propaganda and involvement in insurgency.
But global right groups have dismissed the charges and urged President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to ensure the safety of journalists in Somalia, where eight have been killed this year and dozens arrested, ambushed or robbed.
The Somali government has defied calls by rights groups and foreign nations to relax its heavy-handed clampdown on press freedom, which has been choked by the conflict.
Somalia ranks as the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists so far this year, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.