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Somali Government Condemned For Failing to Protect Journalists


A media advocacy group is condemning Somalia's transitional government for failing to protect journalists in the war-ravaged country.

In a statement Thursday, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it was appalled by an alleged murder attempt on Jafar Mohammed, acting manager of privately-owned Radio Shabelle.

It said an unidentified man fired twice at Mohammed on Monday but failed to hit him and fled.

Radio Shabelle has been off the air for more than a week, since police and intelligence officers opened fire on its headquarters in Mogadishu.

Reporters Without Borders also protested what it called the arbitrary arrest of Somali journalists, including three arrested in the past few days in the provinces of Puntland and Hiran.

The media group says the government's failure to take action is "incomprehensible."

The Somali government has struggled to assert authority since being formed in Kenya in 2004.

Authorities are fighting an Islamist-led insurgency, and the country remains divided by clan and factional rivalries.

A recent government national reconciliation conference made no progress toward ending chronic violence in the capital.

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