(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information Sheikh Ahmed Fahd el Ahmed el Sabah, RSF protested the seizure and banning of the magazine “Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali”. RSF Secretary General Robert Ménard asked the minister to “reconsider his decision.” “It would really be a pity if Kuwait, known for being one of the most […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Information Sheikh Ahmed Fahd el Ahmed el Sabah, RSF protested the seizure and banning of the magazine “Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali”. RSF Secretary General Robert Ménard asked the minister to “reconsider his decision.” “It would really be a pity if Kuwait, known for being one of the most respectful Arab countries with regards to press freedom, started to ban foreign publications,” he added.
According to information collected by RSF, during the week of 23 to 28 April 2001, the Kuwaiti embassy in Lebanon informed Mona Chatilla, owner and editor-in-chief of the magazine “Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali”, that the most recent issue of her newspaper had been seized at the Kuwait City airport. She was also told that the information minister had ordered that this publication be banned by the emirate. The Kuwaiti authorities also refused to renew accreditation of the newspaper’s Kuwaiti correspondent, Oulfat Farid, and told the editor-in-chief that she is now banned from visiting the country. A picture of Saddam Hussein and his son Qoussaï were on the front page of the last issue of “Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali”.
“Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali” is a Cyprus-based fortnightly published and printed in Lebanon. Distributed in a dozen Arab countries, this newspaper is today forbidden in Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Libya.
