Source : Toronto Star

As martial law was imposed on strife-torn Mogadishu, Somalia's Ethiopian-backed transitional government shut down four broadcasters, including a major network founded by three Canadians.

"At about 1 p.m. we got a letter instructing us to close the station," said Ali Iman Sharmarke, a managing partner of the popular HornAfrik radio and television network. "We were surprised, because we thought the media could relax once the Islamists lost control."

Al-Jazeera was also closed down yesterday, three weeks after Ethiopian forces fought their way into Mogadishu, ousting the hardline Union of Islamic Courts which had controlled much of the country -- and installing a transitional government that had failed to take power for the past two years.

The broadcasters have been ordered to appear before the national security agency. Government spokesperson Abduraman Dinari told a local radio station that the media were "instigating violence," according to a report from Agence France Presse.

But another partner in HornAfrik, Mohamed Elmi, said the government "doesn't want free media that really give people the real information. They want distorted information."

Sharmarke, who is in Mogadishu but also has a home and family in Ottawa, said the situation in the Somali capital is chaotic, but not as bloody as in the past, when warlords fought each other and thousands of people were slaughtered.

"When I arrived here in 1999 it was like walking into hell," he said.

HornAfrik was the winner of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression 2002 International Press Freedom Award for its courage in facing down threats and intimidation in an environment of extreme violence.

Sharmarke, Elmi and Ahmed Abdisalam Adan, all Somali refugees with professional careers in Ottawa, returned to Somalia in 1999 to rebuild their homeland. They founded Horn-Afrik, the country's first independent broadcaster, and quickly built up a large audience for its network of seven radio stations, an Internet website and satellite television link.

© Toronto Star