Puntland newspaper damaged in arson attack
New York, June 29, 2007—Three rooms in the headquartersof Shacab, an independent newspaper in northeast Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, were damaged Wednesday night after assailants threw gasoline-fueled bombs, according to local news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSJ). One man was arrested after being identified by a security guard and other…
SOMALIA:In Somaliland, TV journalist assaulted by mayor, held three days
JUNE 28, 2006 Posted August 10, 2007 Abdirahman Muse Omar, Somaliland Television IMPRISONED Omar, a news editor for private broadcaster Somaliland Television in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland, was assaulted on June 28 by Mayor Hussein Muhammud Jiir after seeking official comments about the police’s expulsion of a family and the destruction of their…
Somali government cracks down on media over security coverage
New York, June 7, 2007—Three private broadcasters covering a government security crackdown in the aftermath of Sunday’s deadly suicide bombing of the residence of the Somali prime minister in the capital, Mogadishu, were indefinitely shuttered on Wednesday after authorities accused the stations of fomenting unrest, according to news reports and local journalists. HornAfrik Radio, the…
In Somalia, two journalists killed in ambush of official’s motorcade
New York, May 17, 2007—Two radio reporters covering a provincial governor in south-central Somalia were gunned down on Wednesday after the official’s motorcade was ambushed by clan militia. News editor Abshir Ali Gabre and reporter Ahmed Hassan Mahad of Radio Jowhar were killed when the motorcade of Mohammed Omar Deele, governor of the Middle Shabelle…
In Puntland, radio contributor shot during army raid
New York, May 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on Saturday of Mohammed Abdullahi Khalif, a contributor to the private radio station Voice of Peace in Somalia’s northeastern, semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Khalif was killed by crossfire while covering an army raid on an illegal gun market in the city of Galkayo.…
CPJ mourns death of AP African correspondent Anthony Mitchell
New York, May 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its condolences to the colleagues and family of respected Associated Press reporter Anthony Mitchell, who was killed in a weekend plane crash in Cameroon. Mitchell, 39, a staff reporter with the AP’s Kenya bureau, was among 114 passengers killed when a Kenya Airways aircraft crashed…
SOMALIA: Radio correspondent detained over shooting report
MAY 7, 2007 Posted June 7, 2007 Hassan Mayow, Radio Shabelle HARASSED Mayow, a correspondent for the leading independent station Radio Shabelle, was detained overnight by government troops in Afgoye, 18 miles west of the capital, Mogadishu. The detention came in connection with a story on the killing of three food aid recipients allegedly shot…
Backsliders: The 10 countries where press freedom has most deteriorated
New York, May 2, 2007–Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors,…