USA/Somalia: VOA Relaunches Somali-Language Broadcasts

Text of press release by Voice of America on 12 February

Voice of America has launched its new Somali-language radio programme.

The new half-hour programme will air in Somalia seven days a week on AM, FM and shortwave radio.

Monday’s [12 February] inaugural broadcast featured interviews with Somalia’s interim President Abdullahi Yusuf, and a spokesman for the recently ousted Islamist movement.

Several affiliates in the region were set to carry the programme, including HornAfrik radio in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The new programme airs each day at 1600 hours universal time (or 7 p.m. in Somalia). It will be repeated one hour after the initial broadcast.

This is VOA’s first broadcast in the Somali language since 1994.

VOA Director Dan Austin says providing Somalis with accurate, objective and timely news is vital during what he calls a critical time in the country’s history.

Somalia’s interim government is trying to assert its authority after driving a rival Islamist movement from power with the help of Ethiopian troops.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords drove dictator Muhammad Siyad Barreh from power.

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