Somali TV presenter attacked

2008-05-07 15:08

Nairobi - A popular Somali female television presenter this week escaped death after her car came under fire in the northeastern region of Puntland, a colleague said.

Unknown gunmen on Sunday opened fire on Bisharo Mohammed Waeys, a presenter on the privately-owned Eastern Television Network (ETN) in the port town of Bosasso, in an attack linked the her job, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

"The next day she received two text messages threatening to kill her if she did not stop her entertainment programme on ETN," the statement added.

A colleague confirmed the attack on Waeys, who presents a popular talk show without wearing a veil and who previously read the news.

"We are investigating who was behind the attack, so far we do not want to speculate," said the colleague, who asked to remain anonymous.

RSF said the attack was a setback for Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation that has been wracked by violence since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

"A terrible tragedy has been narrowly avoided in this country, which was in 2007, the deadliest for journalists in Africa," said the RSF statement.

"Bisharo Mohammed Waeys's forced descent into life under guard symbolises a serious step backwards for Somalia since the outbreak of war between the transitional government and Islamic insurgents," it added.

Press watchdogs have condemned Somalia's transitional government for its heavy-handed crackdown on free press.

The war-wracked Horn of Africa nation was ranked as the world's second-deadliest country for journalists by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

- AFP