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NAIROBI, 2 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital, Mogadishu, and much of south-central Somalia, has allowed the HornAfrik radio sub-station in Kismayo to resume normal broadcasting, an official of the Mogadishu-based HornAfrik, told IRIN on Monday.Civil society groups that had been critical of the UIC’s action have welcomed the reopening of the radio station. “We welcome this new development and hope there will be more consultation before such drastic action is taken,” said Abdullahi Shirwa of Civil Society in Action, an umbrella group.
Ali Iman Sharmarke said the Kismayo sub-station was allowed to resume broadcasting on Monday. "We were allowed to resume our transmissions at around 2:30 PM [local time] today [Monday].”
The station was shut down on Thursday by the UIC, which accused it of incitement to violence.
Sources in Kismayo told IRIN at the time that the radio station had been targeted for perceived bias against the UIC and being "in favour of the previous Juba Valley Alliance [JVA] administration". The UIC took Kismayo on 25 September without a shot being fired after the leader of the JVA, Col. Barre Hiirale, who is also defence minister in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), left a day earlier.
The radio station had been covering "sporadic" demonstrations by women khat traders who were protesting against a ban of the popular narcotic by UIC authorities last Monday. "These are women who have no other means to make a living and they are upset by the order [to ban the selling of khat]" a local journalist told IRIN.
Ahmed Muhammad Aden, the station manager in Kismayo, told IRIN that he had received a letter to resume work. "We have the letter and we will resume broadcasting tomorrow [Tuesday]," he said.
Abdirahim Ali Mudey, the UIC’s head of communication and information, confirmed that the radio station had been allowed to resume operating. "We have allowed it to resume its work. We are not against free press but we cannot allow irresponsible journalism to foment violence," he said.
Mudey said the UIC was ready to cooperate with the press but "the press has to be responsible. They cannot broadcast programmes meant to cause chaos and divisions within our society".
Sharmarke said there were a few issues to be ironed out but the radio station should be back on the air "soon … We will meet with the courts’ leadership this afternoon [Monday] to discuss a few outstanding issues but there should be no problems."
ah/mw
[ENDS]
Source: IRIN, Oct 2, 2006