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| Arabia |
| Bahrain suspends opposition paper over 'lies' |
| 2011-04-04 |
| [Pak Daily Times] Bahrain suspended the Gulf Arab state's main opposition newspaper on Sunday, after accusing it of falsifying news about recent sectarian unrest and a government crackdown on protests. Bahrain has seen the worst unrest since the 1990s after mostly Shia protesters erupted into the streets in February, inspired by uprisings that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, to demand a bigger say in the Sunni-ruled country. The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) and government newspapers said Al-Wasat was suspended. "The paper has adhered to lies, falsification and plagiarism as its guiding principles for the sake of deceiving its readers through publishing fabricated stories and photos," BNA said. "It directly and deliberately poses a real threat to the kingdom's security and stability," it said. Official statistics say at least 13 protesters, seven foreign residents and four police have died in festivities that prompted Bahrain to declare martial law and invite troops from its Sunni Gulf neighbours, who are wary of the regional influence of Shia power Iran. The leader of those troops said in remarks published on Sunday they were there to prevent "outside aggression". Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a member of the largest Iranian catspaw, Wefaq, has said up to 329 people have been incarcerated in the crackdown on protesters. He said the number could be more than 400, including Internet activists, since many people were still unaccounted for. Mansoor al-Jamri, Al-Wasat's editor-in-chief, said it was not clear if its print licence would be revoked or not. Al-Wasat's printing press was damaged during the unrest and on March 17 a group of plainclothes men with weapons were in the streets around its offices, holding up production. "We've been working under extreme conditions, our staff has been attacked physically and we've been threatened," Jamri said. "I personally have been attacked by Bahrain TV over the past three weeks. It looks like an orchestrated campaign to silence the last independent voice (in Bahrain)," he added. There are no private broadcasting stations in Bahrain and the Shia opposition has accused Bahrain TV of fomenting sectarian division by what it says was one-sided coverage. |
| Posted by:Fred |