Monday, December 04, 2006
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Rome, Italy (Reuters) - Islamist militants in Somalia detained an Italian journalist this weekend over reports of his they said were incorrect, but eventually allowed him to leave the country after pressure from moderates, the reporter said.Massimo Alberizzi of Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper said he was stopped at his hotel in Mogadishu.
Armed militants then drove him to an empty airstrip where he was questioned about his reporting, including about reports on support Eritrea may have given the Islamists.
"They had read my stories, they said... 'You wrote something incorrect. Do you remember which? Do you remember how? When?," Alberizzi said. "I tried to explain that I wrote a dozen, a hundred, stories a year about Somalia."
He was later taken back to a hotel under armed guard and said more moderate Islamist forces had prevailed in their calls to release him. He left the country on Sunday on a United Nations flight for Nairobi.
The Islamists have been steadily expanding their reach and influence in Somalia after seizing the capital of Mogadishu in June. The United States says they are harbouring al-Qaeda operatives who pose a threat in the region and elsewhere.
Source: Reuters, Dec 04, 2006