Somali government lifts ban

[musika man]

By Sahal Abdulle

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The Somali government on Tuesday relaxed a ban on four major media outlets it had closed, accusing them of biased coverage during the Horn of Africa nation's recent war, media owners said. Officials complained the outlets -- including two of Somalia's largest independent broadcasters and the local office of Al Jazeera TV -- aired unconfirmed reports and leaned towards Islamists ousted at the New Year by an Ethiopian-led offensive.

But Monday's closures brought the government a blaze of unwelcome publicity and protests from both local and foreign media watchdogs, who said it was an affront to democracy. Media executives emerged from a lengthy meeting with government officials on Tuesday to announce they were going back on the air.The government reversed the ban," Ali Iman Sharmarke, co-owner of HornAfrik broadcaster, told Reuters.

"The international media and international organisations, especially the ones who work to protect the media, played a major role in the lifting of this ban."

The 24-hour closure of the outlets came as martial law was declared across Somalia weeks after an Ethiopian-led military offensive ousted Islamists in the south.

"Shutting down private media houses is the worst way to reconcile the Somali people and to bring the country out of these long periods of chaos," said Gabriel Baglo, Africa office director of the International Federation of Journalists.

"We condemn this unacceptable violation of press freedom," he added, speaking before the ban was lifted.

The radio stations of HornAfrik and another major independent broadcaster, Shabelle Media Network, could be heard soon after the media executives met government security officials, a Reuters correspondent in Mogadishu confirmed. As well Al Jazeera TV, the other broadcaster affected was the Koranic radio station IQK.
All deny having favoured the Islamists.

The interim government is trying to bring the volatile nation of 10 million under control after its soldiers, backed by Ethiopian troops, tanks and warplanes, routed Islamists in late December who had seized much of the south.

http://www.hemelhempsteadtoday.co.uk/vi ... ionid=5055

[*zabah]

i am tired of hearing this crap....damn it.

[Lacageylacag]

Mudane ka tirsan Senetka Maraykanka oo lagu magacaabo Sam Brownback oo maalintii shalay kulan kula yeeshay magaalada Addis Ababa ee dalka Itoobiya RaÂ’isal wasaaraha Itoobiya Meles Zenawi ayaa wuxuu uga hambalyeeyay guusha ciidamada Itoobiyaanku ka soo hooyeen isla markaana ay ku qabteen dalka Soomaaliya oo sida uu yiri ay ka saareen waxa uu ugu yeeray kooxihii argagixisada ahaa.
Sam Brownback waxa uu u sheegay Zenawi in xukuumadda iyo shacbiga Maraykanku ugu hambalyeynayaan dadweynaha iyo dowladda Itoobiya sidii ay xoogagga ciidammada Itoobiya kula wareegeen Soomaaliya, isla markaana uu ku tirtirsiin doono waa sida uu hadalka u dhigaye in dowladda Mareykanka ay taageero dhaqaale ugu beddeli doonto howl galkaas Itoobiya si abaalmarin looga dhigo buu yiri guusha ay ka gaareen Soomaaliya.

Dhinaca kale Wasiirka Arrimaha Dibadda ee Itoobiya Seyoum Mesfin oo kulan toddobaadkan kula yeeshay safiirada dalalka deeqaha bixiya ee fadhiya Addis Ababa ayaa sheegay in Soomaaliya ay gacanta ku hayaan isla markaana ay ka howlgalayaan xooggagooda militeriga.

Arrintan ayaa waxay muujinaysaa in cadowga Soomaaliya ay la wareegeen dalka Soomaaliya taasoo ay dhaqaale caalamka ka sii raadsanayaan iyagoo weliba wadada dadaalo diplomaasi oo ay ku muujinayaan qabsashadooda qeyxan.


Soo much for "dowlad soomaaliyeed.

[musika man]

why was it banned? and who owned this media?

Abdirahman Dinari, spokesman for the transitional government, accused Shabelle, along with the other stations, of reporting false information to stir up the people against the government.

“They said our soldiers were looting the markets and harassing people, which was totally untrue,” Mr. Dinari said. “They are using the media to undermine the government. They have been doing this for months.”

Of course, in a land of rivaling clans, there is a clan dimension to all this. The owners of both Shabelle and Horn Afrik, one of the other closed radio stations, are members of the Ayr, a branch of the powerful habr gedir clan, and many government officials blame the Ayr for the rising level of violence.

“The Ayr clan is part of the problem,” Mr. Dinari said.

The Ayr was closely associated with the Islamist movement, with several top Islamist leaders from the Ayr. Many residents of Mogadishu suspect that Ayr members are the backbone of the insurgency, although Ayr elders vehemently deny this.

So far, the most intense fighting — and the most intense crackdowns, in which government and Ethiopian soldiers have searched house-to-house — are in Ayr neighborhoods, which is beginning to fuel Ayr resentment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/world ... ref=slogin