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Alert

Angry youths threaten to kill journalist and set his house ablaze

(MFWA/IFEX) - Abdoul Salam Quarma, a correspondent for the Agence d'Information de Burkina (AIB), a newswire service in Titao in the province of Lorum, 230 km north of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, was threatened with death on 24 May 2007 by a group of irate youths over a news report they were not pleased with.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) correspondent reported that, if not for the intervention of the provincial authorities, the journalist would have been lynched and his house set ablaze by the youth.

The MFWA correspondent said the action of the group followed a publication in the 23 May edition of the state-owned "Sidwaya" newspaper headlined: "Drinking competition turns tragic". The article written by Quarma alleged that one youth from Titao died after a drinking competition between two groups in the area.

The angry youths chanted anti-press freedom slogans and called for Quarma's death.

Meanwhile the Burkina Faso Journalists Association and the Association of Private Newspaper Publishers have condemned the threats against the journalist. A statement issued by the two groups called for support for Quarma. They also praised the authorities for protecting the journalist.