07/06/07 (B398) AFP – Le G F T met à la porte de Mogadiscio trois radios privées locales (En Anglais – Info lectrice) Somali govt takes local radio stations off air

Mogadishu,
Somalia

Somalia’s transitional government on Wednesday ordered three local
private radio stations to stop broadcasting from the country’s capital.

Mogadishu-based stations
Shabelle Radio, Radio HornAfrik and Voice of the Qur’an radio stopped
broadcasting early on Wednesday afternoon, an Agence France-Presse correspondent
said.

"We have been
ordered to close the radio station and we don’t know why so far,"
Mohamed Amin, director of Shabelle, said.

"I have called
some government officials to ask them why the radio stations have to close
but they said we could discuss the issue later," he added.

Government officials
were not immediately available for comment but have in the past complained
of pro-Islamist bias in the outlets’ reporting.

The Somali government
in January banned the same three Mogadishu broadcasters as well as Qatar-based
al-Jazeera satellite television network for 24-hours following the ousting
of an Islamist movement by Ethiopia-backed Somali troops at the start
of the year.

Somali officials are
attempting to organise a national reconciliation conference to start June
14, despite an increasing Islamist-led insurgency, including suicide car
bomb and landmine attacks on prominent targets in Mogadishu. — Sapa-AFP