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01/18/2006:

"African 'al-Jazeera' aims to give a fairer view of the continent"

More than 20 years ago, Mohammed Amin set up his camera in the dustbowls of Korem in northern Ethiopia and filmed people starving to death. His footage, accompanied by a report from the BBC's Michael Buerk, left an indelible impression of Africa on the minds of British television viewers.

Now his son Salim wants to give African journalists a bigger voice in how the continent is presented to the world by setting up the Africa's first news channel.

"We want to show the success stories as well as the failures, and show there is more to us than famines and wars," he said. "We need to remind ourselves, as well as others, that there are people here who are contented with their lives.

"My father always talked about how important it was for Africans to receive news from other Africans."

Mohammed Amin was killed in 1996 after a plane he was travelling on was hijacked and crashed into the sea. His son is now determined take up the task of covering African news from the inside. Already the chief executive of Camerapix, a production company based in Nairobi, he believes his true mission is to set up an African version of the Arabic TV news channel al-Jazeera, broadcasting in English and French to African and international audiences. Mr Amin said: "The idea is to get Africans talking to each other instead of getting their information on what is happening in each other's countries from outsiders."
independent.co.uk