RADIO CENSORSHIP IN SOMALIA
Apr 12th, 2010 by admin
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab announced on Friday that it has banned local radio stations from retransmitting broadcasts from the Washington-based news service Voice of America and the BBC’s Somali language service. The insurgent group claims the news services have been broadcasting anti-Muslim propaganda. The BBC has said that all of its transmitters inside Somalia have been shut down by the rebels. The head of BBC Africa, Jerry Timmins, defended the impartiality and balance of its reports in Somalia. Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the ban and urged al-Shabab to respect freedom of information and stop trying to silence the Somalian media. Al-Shabab is fighting against the United Nations-backed government and controls most of southern and central Somalia.
