Gunmen kill reporter, young son in Basra
New York, February 9, 2005—An Iraqi correspondent for the U.S.-funded television station Al-Hurra and his 3-year-old son were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the city of Basra today, according to Al-Hurra and international press reports. Abdul-Hussein Khazal, 40, and his son were gunned down outside their home around 8 a.m. Iraq time, Al-Hurra said…
Calls for immediate release of jailed editor, protests recent prosecutions
Washington, D.C., February 8, 2005—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met with Yemen’s ambassador to the United States, Abdulwahab Abdulla al-Hajjri, today to express deep concern about the imprisonment of a Yemeni opposition newspaper editor and a recent spate of criminal convictions handed down against several other journalists. Abdelkarim al-Khaiwani, editor of the…
KUWAIT
FEBRUARY 7, 2005 Posted: February 11, 2005 All newspapers THREATENED In a meeting with leading Kuwaiti editors, Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah warned that the Cabinet would suspend or permanently close newspapers that published information about ongoing state investigations of terrorism suspects or unauthorized information about the country’s security situation, according to international and…
IRAQ
FEBRUARY 4, 2005 Posted: March 14, 2004 Giuliana Sgrena, Il ManifestoABDUCTED Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, abducted on February 4, was released on March 4. Shortly after her release, she was wounded and an Italian intelligence agent escorting her was killed when U.S.-led coalition forces fired on their car near a military checkpoint in Baghdad.
Italian journalist abducted
New York, February 4, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction of an Italian journalist today in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Gunmen seized Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the Rome-based Italian daily Il Manifesto, near Baghdad University, according to The Associated Press, which cited Italian and Iraqi officials.
CPJ protests newspapers’ suspension
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed that the Ministry of Justice suspended two Arabic-language weeklies. According to press reports and local journalists, intelligence agents notified the editors of the Oujda-based weeklies Al-Sharq and Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya on January 18 that they were to cease publication of their weeklies immediately for three months on order of the ministry.
MOROCCO
JANUARY 18, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 Al-Sharq Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya CENSORED Ali Lmrabet, freelance HARASSED According to press reports and local journalists, intelligence agents notified the editors of the Oujda-based weeklies Al-Sharq and Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya that they were to cease publication of their weeklies immediately for three months on order of the ministry.
CPJ alarmed by criminal convictions of journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a series of criminal convictions handed down against several Yemeni newspaper editors and reporters in reprisal for their work. These convictions have severely undermined press freedom in Yemen.