Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Somali gov't launches new weekly newspaper for peace, tolerance

The Somali government has launched a new weekly newspaper as part of its drive to counter Islamist propaganda and spread its message of "peace and tolerance" to the people, an official said Monday.

The newspaper, called Dalka, a Somali word meaning "the country", had its first issue published and distributed this week.

"We are launching this newspaper to because we want to reach out our people with a message of peace and tolerance," Mohamed Ibrahim Fanah of the Somali Ministry of Information told Xinhua.

The official said the government aims to reach every Somali citizen through all the modern media of communication noting that the government already operates the state-run radio Mogadishu, "recognized as the most widely listened to station in Mogadishu."

Fanah said the government's radio station also runs a website that webcasts live streaming of the radio broadcasts to Somalis all over the world. The site also gives multimedia updates of news about the east African country.

He added that the Somali government, with its meager resources plans to open a TV station "in the near future," saying all the necessary equipment was made ready and that staff were undergoing training for the job.

Islamist groups fighting against the government run almost a couple of radio stations in Mogadishu and almost one in each of major towns they control in the south and center of the war torn nation.

The stations broadcast daily updates on the groups fighting against the weak but international recognized government and urge youths to take part in what they term the holy war against the government forces and African union peacekeepers based in Mogadishu as a religious obligation.

Religious sermons promoting the groups radical view points and vocal-only Arabic war songs known as "annasheed" are broadcast daily.

The extremist Islamist group of Al Shabaab, which imposed strict rules on media operating in areas under their control, took over two radio stations in Mogadishu and converted them into an Islamist mouthpiece.

The Islamists last year banned other stations from playing music on air saying it was "unIslamic". Although most radio stations complied with the edict, Radio Shabelle, a major independent station in Mogadishu as well as the state run Radio Mogadishu dismissed the order and continued to play local and international music on air.

Source: Xinhua

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