A Somali radio presenter broadcasts from Mogadishu, April 2010

Gunmen in Somalia have killed a prominent journalist who worked at the state-run radio station in the capital.

Sheikh Nur Abkey was abducted on Tuesday and his body was found dumped in the street later that evening.

It is unclear who killed him, but his colleagues believe was targeted because he worked for Radio Mogadishu which is critical of Islamist militants.

They control large swathes of country, with the UN-backed interim government limited to sections of the capital.

Somalia, which has not had a functioning central government since 1991, is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for members of the media.

Reporters Without Borders says nine journalists were killed in Somalia in 2009.

The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital, Mogadishu, says Mr Abkey was a veteran journalist, remaining in Mogadishu when the civil war started.

He worked for the independent HornAfrik radio station and the Somali Television Network as a news anchor and comedian, our reporter says.

More recently, he worked with Somalia’s information ministry training journalists at Radio Mogadishu.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

  • Share/Bookmark

Police block journalists

Journalists protesting against the death of a Cameroonian newspaper editor have clashed with riot police in the capital Yaounde.

Several hundred demonstrators were prevented from staging a sit-in at the prime minister’s office to mark World Press Freedom day.

The authorities said the protesters had not given them proper notice to hold a public rally.

Cameroon Express editor Bibi Ngota died last month in a Yaounde prison.

Some of the protesters carried banners with slogans such as "We are all Biby [sic] Ngota" and "Free all the journalists still in prison".

"I am enraged by such brutality when we wanted to hold a peaceful demonstration," said Polycarpe Essomba, a Cameroonian correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI).

Bibi Ngota (file photo)

"The police hit me with their clubs, I lost my jacket with my passport and money," he said, according to the AFP news agency.

Mr Ngota had been jailed on fraud charges.

His family rejects the government’s explanation that he died of an HIV-related infection.

He was one of three journalists detained in March on charges of fraud and using false documents.

An adviser to the Cameroonian journalists’ union (SNJC) said Mr Ngota was not given any medical treatment during his detention.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also said it held the authorities responsible for Mr Ngota’s death.

Newspapers in Cameroon are subject to considerable official restrictions and tough libel legislation is in place.

In 2006 the media rights body Reporters Without Borders noted that: "Draconian laws regularly put journalists behind bars."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

  • Share/Bookmark

A woman walks past pictures of killed Iraqi journalists during a gathering at the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists to mark World Press Freedom Day in Baghdad , May 2010

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has named the leaders of China, Russia and Rwanda as some of the world’s worst "predators of freedom".

The report, marking World Press Freedom Day, lists what the Paris-based group regards as the 40 worst offenders against the freedom of the press.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il and the head of Burma’s military government Than Shwe, are also on the list.

Mexico is named as among the most dangerous countries for journalists.

Sixty-two journalists have been killed in Mexico over the last decade.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has "promoted a climate of pumped-up national pride that encourages the persecution of dissidents and freethinkers", the report contends.

The Basque separate group Eta in Spain and criminal gangs in Italy are also said to have threatened journalists.

Israeli Defence Forces have physically injured at least 33 Palestinian journalists, the report says. Palestinian militant group Hamas is also criticised.

The report accuses Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, of condoning attacks on journalists.

To mark World Press Freedom Day, however, President Rajapaksa ordered the release of a journalist who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.

Tamil journalist JS Tissainayagam had been convicted on the basis of articles he wrote which the government said incited racial hatred.

Political tension is rising in Rwanda ahead of elections due in August and investigative journalist Robert Mukomboz was thrown out of the country for criticising President Paul Kagame.

"The president’s office would try to dictate what I’m supposed to write, would even want to dictate the headlines, and would go to the extent of trying to draft the story for me and include my by-line," he told the BBC’s World Today programme.

Reporters Without Borders has removed several Iraqi Islamist groups from the list, arguing that, while violence remains high, journalists are no longer being singled out.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

  • Share/Bookmark
© 2010 International news round the clock Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha