NAIROBI, July 03, 2007 – A Somaliland television journalist who was last week beaten and detained for seeking information from a local official has been freed, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

The Paris-based watchdog said Abdirahman Musse Omar, detained on Thursday in Hargeysa, the capital of the breakaway state of Somaliland, was freed on Sunday after he appeared in court.

"The authorities are not pressing any charges against Omar, who was arrested on 28 June on the orders of Hargeysa’s mayor," RSF said in a statement.

Omar, who works for privately-owned television station SLTV, was detained on orders from Hargeysa mayor Hussein Mohamoud Ji’ir, whose reaction he had sought following deadly clashes between the police and residents of a Hargeysa suburb.

Source: AFP