Somalia: Channel 4 News Reporter Arrested in Puntland

by: Omar Nor

GAROWE (Somalilandsun)‚ÄîA media colleague says the multi-award winning Somali journalist Jamal Osman has been arrested in Garowe town by the security forces of Somalia’s semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.

Jamal and his colleague Ahmed Farah, a Dutch-Somali photojournalist were arrested at the independent local FM radio station SBC in Garowe as they were going to scoop interviews with Somali pirates.

Jamal Osman is a reporter for the UK-based Channel 4 News television. He went Puntland to make a story about the impact of Somali pirates in the region, both security and economically.

A Union of journalists in Puntland (MAP) reported that the correspondents, Jamal and Farah were arrested shortly after their arrival in Garowe on Thursday, They were released later after hours of questioning in Garowe police station.

Meanwhile, Puntland authorities had alleged the journalists that they have entered in the region without having permission or legal documents from the ministry of information.

While relatively stable compared to war-torn southern Somalia, Puntland also hosts pirate gangs on its coastline as well as multiple militia forces, while Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab fighters have set up

bases in its rugged Golis Mountains.

The writer Omar Nor,is a freelance journalist based in Mogadishu

Contact: Omaarnur@Gmail.com

Via: http://somalilandsun.com/

Original Article