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Somali radio journos arrested
14/01/2008 17:15 - (SA)
Mogadishu - Somali security forces raided the offices of a private radio and arrested two of its journalists on charges of airing pro-opposition propaganda, the station said on Monday.
Abdurrahman Mohamed Hassan, the director of Mogadishu-based Somaliweyn Radio and producer Bashir Mohamed Abdukadir were detained late on Sunday, editor-in-chief Nuradin Ahmed Diniyare said.
He said: "Somali government forces armed with heavy machine guns raided the station while we were on duty and they asked for Bashir Mohamed who was not in the station at the time.
"He arrived later and they arrested him. Hours later they called the director and arrested him too."
The editor said negotiations were underway for their release and added that the authorities accused the journalists of supporting the Eritrea-based opposition to the transitional government.
"We denounce this move and demand the immediate and unconditional release of the two journalists," said Omar Faruk Osman, secretary-general of the National Union of Somali Journalists, in a statement.
The transitional Somali government, which was battling an Islamist insurgency, had cracked down on journalists in recent months, closing down several radio stations and arresting journalists.
While Islamist fighters had concentrated their attacks in the capital, their political leaders and other opposition figures had formed an alliance based in the Eritrean capital Asmara.
Somalia was one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists.
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