MOGADISHU, (insidesomalia.org) - Somali authorities have released five journalists arrested for covering fighting between government troops and insurgents and their radio station is back on the air, the reporters said on Friday.

Since relocating to Mogadishu at the start of 2007, the government has raided and temporarily closed most of the city's nine private radio stations at some point, accusing them of siding with Islamists waging a bloody insurgency against it.

"We were not interrogated, and a police officer told us that Somalia's police chief ordered our release," Radio Voice of Peace's editor Shafi Muhidin Abukar told Reuters by telephone.

"A policeman earlier told us that we aired wrong reports on the fighting between insurgents and government police that took place late on Wednesday."

The station was back on the air on Friday after the journalists were released late on Thursday.

Police had stormed the Radio Voice of Peace newsroom earlier on Thursday, shutting it down and arresting the five.

Government officials have not commented on the incident, but frequently deny harassing local media.

Immersed in civil conflict since the 1991 fall of a dictator, Somalia is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.

Source: Reuters

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