African Union called on to protect Somali journalists
Somalia, Politics, 3/13/2007

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Monday called on the African Union (AU) to protect journalists in Somalia after the recent beating of four reporters by soldiers.

"We condemn these attacks on the journalists and call for the immediate release of our colleague who is still being detained," said Gabriel Baglo Director of the IFJ Africa Office. "We call on African Union President John Kuffor, and AU Commission President Alpha Konar to put pressure on the Somali government so that their troops stop targeting journalists." Ibraahim Ruush, Ismaciil Cali Cabdi and Max'ed Ibraahim Raage, three reporters working for private media group Shabelle Media Network (SMN), were beaten and briefly detained earlier Monday by Ethiopian troops based in the southern part of Mogadishu.

The team was reporting on an attack on the base last night. The Ethiopian troops forced the three journalists to lie on the ground, seized their recording materials and beat them. They were released after an hour.

On Sunday Abdirahman Aladalla, another SMN journalist, was beaten and detained by Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldiers in Darmoley, 15 km south of Mogadishu. According to an SMN report, the soldiers asked Aladalla if he was an Islamist or Al-Qaeda member. The journalist was released after about three hours with injuries to one arm.

Ethiopian troops helped the TFG to oust the Union of Islamic Courts from Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia in late December 2006. The Ethiopian troops are still in the country supporting the TFG.

The Brussels-based IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 115 countries.

Previous Stories:
  Somalia peacekeeping force approved by UN   (2/21/2007)
  On UN technical visit to Somalia ahead of peace mission   (2/4/2007)
  First cross-border transport of urgently needed aid reaches Somalis   (1/27/2007)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search