Text Only
Search

 
Somalia: Islamists Ban Music Broadcasts, Close Radio Station

10 September 2006

Islamic militants controlling much of southern Somalia have closed a radio station for broadcasting love songs.

An Islamic official, Sheikh Mohamed Mohamoud Abdirahman, said Radio Jowhar was closed because it aired the banned music.

Radio Jowhar is the only FM radio station in the town.

The Islamic official said anyone violating the music ban could be arrested, fined and flogged.

Some Johwhar residents called the move the beginning of censorship against free media.

Islamists control the Somali capital of Mogadishu and much of the country's south and have begun enforcing strict Islamic rule on the region.

Somalia's weak interim government is based in the town of Baidoa. The country has not had a national army or an effective central authority since the fall of the last government more than 15 years ago.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

emailme.gif E-mail This Article
printerfriendly.gif Print Version

  Related Stories
Former Somali Military Members Vow to Fight Foreign Peacekeepers
Somali Islamists, Government Agree to Joint Army
 
  Top Story
Obama: Iraq Election Law an "Important Milestone"  Audio Clip Available

  More Stories
Iraqi Parliament Approves New Electoral Law After Raucous Debate  Audio Clip Available
US Army Chief of Staff: More Troops Needed in Afghanistan
Market Bomber Kills 13 in Northwest Pakistan
Clinton Urges Europeans to Bring Down "Walls" of Terrorism, Oppression  Audio Clip Available
Berlin to Mark the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall  Audio Clip Available  Video clip available
Hurricane Ida Heads Toward Gulf of Mexico, Floods Kill 91 in El Salvador
Russia-Iran Relations Balancing on Nuclear Issue
Motive Sought for Texas Mass Shooting
Dalai Lama Rejects Chinese Criticism of Monastery Visit  Audio Clip Available
China's Premier Pledges $10 billion in Loans to Africa  Audio Clip Available
Netanyahu Heads to US Amid Crisis in Peace Process  Audio Clip Available
Japan Pledges More Aid to Burma if Political Prisoners are Released
WFP Making Inroads on Alleviating Hunger  Audio Clip Available
Deposed Madagascar President says He Will Work With Rival Who Ousted Him  Audio Clip Available
US Health Care Debate Continues on Partisan Lines