Reward for journalist killers

MOGADISHU (AP):

The Somali government is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the convictions of those killing journalists, the country's prime minister said.

Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said over the weekend that the reward would help ensure that such killers are brought to justice.

Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries in which to practise journalism, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Last year, 18 Somali journalists were killed, but no arrests were made. So far this year, one reporter has been killed, bringing to 45 the total number of journalists killed here since 2007.

The National Union of Somali Journalists said last year that impunity is a fundamental problem in Somalia. It said no one has been convicted for the deaths of the journalists. Judicial reform is at the heart of the government's efforts to ensure killers of journalists are brought to justice, Shirdon said during a meeting with journalists on Saturday.

The prime minister called the meeting to discuss the government's relationship with the media and to listen to journalists' concerns, following the killing of a journalist on January 18 and two recent arrests of reporters, according to a statement from his office.