(SomaliNet) As we reported earlier today, SomaliaÂ’s fledging interim government closed three radio stations and Al Jazeera TV office in Mogadishu today. The government saw these stations as foes and the letter sent to them did not say much. Owners of the radio stations and Al Jazeera representatives are expected to go to the national security office tomorrow morning for further instructions. A government insider told SomaliNet that these stations were jeopardizing the governmentÂ’s efforts to secure Mogadishu by fuelling and magnifying the actions of few bandits in the city. The source said BBC Somali Service became another faction in the past several years and was originally on the list to be shutdown. However, the government decided to give the service more time and to watch its actions more closely. BBC Somali service was once banned in north eastern Somalia known as Puntland by then president of Puntland and current Somalia president, Abdulahi Yusuf who is now in Mogadishu. The interim government also shut down Shabelle RadioÂ’s office in Baidao last year.
The Islamic Courts were not different when they were in power. They closed one station in Jowhar and told Mogadishu reporters not to be neutral on the current conflict. One of the courts leaders told reporters to leave Mogadishu and go to Addis Ababa or Baidao if they wanted to remain neutral.