Somali journos attacked

An Amnesty International report on Somalia says journalists face "deliberate and systematic attack" as part of attempts to silence coverage of the conflict in the country, with nine journalists killed and 50 driven into exile in the last five months. News outlets that took reporting beyond clan loyalties started opening in Somalia in 2005. But the situation has deteriorated since late 2006, when the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its Ethiopian allies captured Mogadishu from the Union of Islamic Courts, with armed groups aligned to all these forces regularly threatening journalists. You can read the Amnesty report at www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR52/001/2008. London Freelance Branch is making contact with the National Union of Somali Journalists to find out how we can help them.