Mogadishu's mayor on Wednesday ordered media groups and journalists to register with authorities or be barred from working in the lawless Somali capital, where a deadly insurgency is raging.

In the latest media crackdown, security forces ordered Mogadishu-based Radio Simba and Radio Banadir off the air on Tuesday [13 November], a day after a similar fate befell Radio Shabelle.

"I call on media houses and newspapers to register within 30 days in order to keep working in Mogadishu, otherwise they will not be allowed to operate," mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb said in a statement.

The mayor's office said the order applies to radio stations, television channels, newspapers and journalists representing foreign media in the seaside capital, where Ethiopia-backed Somali forces are battling Islamist insurgents.

Authorities have accused the independent media for fanning conflict in the capital, notably interviewing anti-government elements, broadcasting propaganda and involvement in insurgency.

But global right groups have dismissed the charges and urged President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to ensure the safety of journalists in Somalia, where eight have been killed this year and dozens arrested, ambushed or robbed.

The Somali government has defied calls by rights groups and foreign nations to relax its heavy-handed clampdown on press freedom, which has been choked by the conflict.

So far this year, Somalia ranks as the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Bloody clan conflict and power struggles that intensified after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre have scuppered many bids to stabilise Somalia.

Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in English 1450 gmt 14 Nov 07

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