ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Somalia and Eritrea were the most hostile for journalists in Africa last year, a press freedom watchdog said Thursday, calling 2009 one of the most difficult years for reporters on the continent.

"Eritrea and Somalia were identified as the most hostile spots for journalists in Africa," Jim Boumelha, International Federation of Journalists president, told AFP in Addis Ababa.

Thirteen journalists were killed and 32 jailed on the continent last year, said the Brussels-based group.

Nine journalists were killed by armed militias in war-ravaged Somalia in 2009, while 19 are being held incommunicado in Eritrea, Boumelha said.

"The year 2009 was one of the most difficult for press freedom on the African continent," the group said in a report.

Four journalists, including two Eritreans captured by Ethiopian troops during their invasion of Somalia in 2006, remain in jail in Ethiopia, it added.

Boumelha, in Addis Ababa for talks with African Union and Ethiopian officials, also urged the bloc to sign a UN resolution calling on warring parties to prevent abuses against journalists.