Islamic radicals close down radio station
Somalia's Islamic radicals closed down a second radio station today, just days after introducing strict new laws for the media in the war ravaged country.
Militia raided East Africa Radio in the capital, Mogadishu, saying the station belonging to Bashir Rageh, who was part of a secular alliance of US-backed warlords who were ousted from the capital in June by Islamic fighters after days of bloody fighting.
"The station was closed because it is the property of Bashir Rageh who was a member of the evil alliance," said Abdirahim Ali Mudey, a spokesman for the Islamic group. The Islamic group plans to allow the radio station back on air once "we make a change of administration," he said.
On Wednesday the group, which now controls much of southern Somalia, imposed new rules on journalists which effectively gag them, said Paris-based press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders.
Journalists face arrest if they breach the rules, which include not releasing information that could create tension between the Islamic group and Somalia's 8 million people.
"I and my staff were very stunned by how the militia can just switch off the station," said Mohamed Mohamud Mo'alin, the radio's director. "They did not give us any reason why."
Islamic militants temporarily shut down a radio station on September 10 for airing "music and love songs." Earlier this month the Islamists closed HornAfrik Radio station sub-branch in Kismayo, accusing it of incitement against the Islamic authority.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.
The US has accused Somalia's Islamic group of sheltering suspects in the 1998 al Qaida bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Bin Laden has said Somalia is a battleground in his war on the West.
