Somali forces shut radio station after Islamist interview
MOGADISHU, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Somali government forces on Thursday raided and shut a radio station that interviewed a top Islamist insurgent commander who claimed responsibility for an assassination bid on the prime minister. The forces ordered Mogadishu-based Simba Radio off the air and arrested its chief Abdullahi Ali Farak and a journalist, according to a reporter who works there. "The forces came this morning, opened fire, entered the radio station and arrested the boss and a journalist," said the reporter, who requested anonymity. The radio on Wednesday evening interviewed Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a radical Islamist leader, who said he was behind a suicide attack earlier in the day on an Ethiopian army base near a hotel where Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was staying. Two Ethiopian soldiers were killed in the attack in Baidoa town, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital. Sheikh Mukhtar -- also known as Abu Mansur after training in Afghanistan and fought alongside the Taliban in the early 2000s -- presented himself in the interview as a spokesman for the Somali Islamist movement in Mogadishu, but he has commanded numerous other militia fighters over the past decade. Last month, Somali security forces besieged and opened fire at Shabelle radio, destroying equipment and forcing it to close for 15 days after they accused one of Shabelle reporters of hurling a grenade at a police patrol. Rights groups have called for protection for journalists in Somalia, where at least seven reporters have been killed this year. A dozen journalists have also been arrested and five others have been ambushed and robbed. So far this year, Somalia ranks as the the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The troubled Horn of Africa country has had no central authority since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991 and has defied numerous attempts to restore stability. nur-bkb/oto/nl Copyright (c) 2007 Agence France-Presse Received by NewsEdge Insight: 10/11/2007 02:43:30 <http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SSHN-77VBHG?OpenDocument <http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SSHN-77VBHG?OpenDocument> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
