Somali media pleads for mercy
2007-11-23 08:36
Nairobi - A Somali media panel has asked the country's new Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein to protect press freedom that has been under siege as the government battles insurgents.
The National Union of Somali Journalists' (NUSOJ) appeal came a day after President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed appointed Hussein, a veteran law-enforcement official, and tasked him with restoring stability.
NUSOJ Secretary-General Omar Faruk Osman said: "We plead to Premier Nur Hassan Hussein to be a leader of a government that respects and protects its citizens, including journalists as enshrined in the Transitional Federal Charter.
"This year has been a terrifying one for Somali media, and journalists are working in dreadfully dangerous conditions."
Authorities had accused the independent media of fanning conflict in the capital, notably interviewing anti-government elements, broadcasting propaganda and involvement in the insurgency.
Ethiopia, whose forces were fighting alongside government troops in Somalia, said Somali media was awash with propaganda.
Authorities had defied calls by rights groups and foreign nations to relax its heavy-handed clampdown on press freedom, which had been choked by the conflict.
So far this year, at least eight journalists had been killed and dozens others either detained, ambushed or robbed, ranking Somalia the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists, press groups said.
Bloody clan conflict and power struggles that intensified after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre had scuppered many bids to stabilise Somalia.