Somalia
Somaliland TV reporter held for three daysPosted Jul 20 2007
Reporters Without Borders has reported that Somaliland journalist Abdirahman Musse Omar has been released following his arrest on June 28. Omar was set free after appearing before a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway territory of Somaliland. The authorities are not pressing any charges against him. The initial orders for Omar's arrest came from the mayor of Hargeisa, Hussein Mohamoud Ji'ir. The television reporter went to the Hargeisa city hall last month to get comments from the mayor on the deadly clashes that had taken place between police and residents in a suburb of the city. It is reported that on seeing the journalist the mayor snatched Omar's camera and began to hit him. Security guards were ordered to lock Omar up in one of the two cells inside the city hall.