PRESS RELEASE

Paris January 4, 2007, -Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrests of journalists in recent days in the northern breakaway state of Somaliland

Police stormed into the offices of "Haatuf" in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, on the afternoon of 2 January 2007 and arrested publisher Yusuf Abdi Gabobe, editor Ali Abdi Dini and chief financial officer Hussein Kalif Abdullahi, who was beaten while he was being taken to the police station. The authorities have not yet explained why they were arrested or why they are still being held.