StarTribune.com

15 January 2007

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - The country's transitional government on Monday shut three of Somalia's biggest radio stations, accusing them of broadcasting incendiary propaganda.

Then, in a show of force, hundreds of government soldiers filled the streets of Mogadishu, the capital, as tanks from neighboring Ethiopia -- which last month helped rout Islamist forces that had controlled much of Somalia -- chugged through downtown, drawing crowds of onlookers and the occasional rock.

Somalia's government, which declared a state of emergency Saturday, seems intent on using its newfound powers to crush the seeds of a growing insurgency. On Sunday night, gunmen attacked an Ethiopian convoy, setting off an hourlong firefight in one of Mogadishu's ramshackle neighborhoods.

As the days pass, the insurgent attacks grow more frequent and more lethal.

But officials at the radio stations said that was no excuse to force them off the air.

"All we have done is voice different opinions," said Muhammad Amiin, deputy chairman of Shabelle Media Network. "We never expected this to happen."

Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari accused the stations of making false reports to stir up the people against the government.

"They said our soldiers were looting the markets and harassing people, which was totally untrue," he said. "They are using the media to undermine the government."

The government also closed Al Jazeera's Mogadishu office and a religious radio station. Some people feared that could play into the Islamists' hands.

Some accused the government of being hypocritical because government officials recently criticized Islamists for not allowing radio stations to play Western music.