Monday, February 19, 2007
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NAIROBI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Media watchdogs condemned the killing of a Somali radio journalist and called on Monday for a full investigation and greater protection for reporters in one of the world's most volatile countries.
Ali Mohammed Omar, a presenter on Radio Warsan in the south-central town of Baidoa, was shot in the head by three assailants who attacked him as he walked home late on Friday.
"This is a shocking murder and we demand the government gives top priority to bringing the killers to justice," Aidan White, general-secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said in a statement.
"There is a pattern of attacks on the press and violence against journalists which requires urgent official action."
Insecurity has grown in the Horn of Africa nation since government forces and their Ethiopian military allies drove out a rival Islamist movement in a war over the New Year.
Privately-owned Radio Warsan had been closed several times, the IFJ said, and only resumed operations earlier this month after reaching agreement with regional security officials.
Reporters Without Borders, another press freedom group, deplored what it said was the "deteriorating security situation" in Somalia, noting that it was the third year running a journalist had been killed there for trying to do his job.
"The killers have never been punished," it said.
Source: Reuters, Feb 19, 2007