Closed Somali radio stations back on air

Three independent Mogadishu-based broadcasters which Somalia's transitional government ordered closed last week were back on air Sunday after four days of closure.

Reports reaching here said Information Minister Modobe Nunow allowed the three radio stations-- Shabelle, HornAfrik and Radio of the Holy Quran--to resume their operations following a meeting between him and broadcasters.

"We (the government officials) had discussions with the administrators of the three stations and agreed on key principal points including first the broadcasts should be allowed back on air and second rectify the mistakes being attributed to these stations," Nunow told reporters in Mogadishu.

The Wednesday's closure of the independent radio stations had elicited condemnation from media press watchdogs accusing the transitional government of silencing the media in the Horn of African nation.

The government had also issued a one-day closure order against the stations in January this year.

Somalia descended into chaos in 1991, when warlords ousted longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then fought one another.

The government was formed in 2004 with the help of the United Nations, but it has struggled to assert any real authority.

The administration, with the crucial aid of neighboring Ethiopia, ousted Islamic radicals who had ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somali for six months last year.

But insurgents linked to the group have vowed to launch an Iraq- style guerrilla war until the country becomes an Islamic state.

Source: Xinhua