Monday, April 21, 2008
"I got my freedom back," Abdi Mohamed Ismail, Shabelle Radio news editor, told AFP after his release.
"They dealt with me fairly, but they didn't ask me anything during the whole time that I spent in custody. Maybe some of them were simply not pleased with the way I cover stories."
Government forces have in the past raided local radio stations, accusing them of fanning insurgent violence.
"There was a news item that we broadcast yesterday (Sunday) about Somali forces stealing a truck. Perhaps they are not pleased with that news report and that is why they took him," said a Shabelle Radio editor, Ahmed Omar Hashi.
Ethiopian forces backing Somali government troops and Islamist insurgents clashed heavily in the capital at the weekend, leaving more than 50 dead, more than half of them civilians.
Last week, police held five journalists working for a private radio for hours for covering an attack by Islamist militia.
Press watchdogs have chided Somalia's transitional government for its heavy-handed crackdown on free press.
The war-wracked Horn of Africa nation was ranked as the world's second-deadliest country for journalists by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Source: AFP, April 21, 2008