Bosaso TV and radio station shut down

The authorities of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have withdrawn the licence of the Somali Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) radio and television, based in the region's commercial capital, Bosaso, an SBC official told IRIN on Thursday.

"At around 10 am [07:00 GMT] yesterday [Wednesday], we received an official letter informing us that our licence had been withdrawn and we should, therefore, shut the station down," SBC manager Ali Abdi Aware said. "As I am speaking to you, we are off the air in Bosaso," he added.

According to Aware, the authorities accused the SBC of breaking the region's press laws.

Other sources in Bosaso told IRIN that the SBC had been targeted for perceived bias against the Puntland leader, Col Abdullahi Yusuf, and "supporting and the interim government in Mogadishu and Jama Ali Jama [the former Puntland leader]".

Abdullahi Yusuf's forces took control of Bosaso on 8 May, after forces loyal to his rival for the presidency of the region, Jama Ali Jama, withdrew without a fight.

The move follows controversy over Puntland's leadership which started after Abdullahi, whose term of office ended on 30 June 2001, claimed that his mandate had been extended by parliament.

Puntland's traditional elders, meeting in Garowe in July, rejected his claim to an extended mandate. In November (after a general congress in August), they elected Jama Ali for a three-year term in the hope that this would end the leadership wrangles.

The SBC was also accused by the Puntland authorities of having "a political agenda inimical to the Puntland state", according to sources in Bosaso.

Attempts by IRIN to get comment from the authorities in Puntland were unsuccessful.

Aware denied any partiality in the SBC's reporting. "We have been impartial to a fault in our reporting. We have not supported Jama Ali or Abdullahi Yusuf," he said. "In fact, we challenged the authorities to come up with a single programme that could be construed as biased."

Wednesday was a sad day for the free press in Puntland, Aware told IRIN. "This is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate and muzzle the private press in Puntland," he said, pointing out that he had no legal recourse to challenge the order.

A local journalist told IRIN that many people in Bosaso missed their BBC Somali broadcast on Wednesday, which used to be relayed by the SBC station. "There are a lot of unhappy BBC listeners in Bosaso today," he said.

However, Aware said the SBC sub-stations in Garowe, the regional capital, and Qardo, the third-largest town in Puntland, were operating normally and carrying BBC programmes as usual.