West Asia - North Africa

Israeli forces have arrested Iran's Al-Alam News Network's correspondent reporting from the occupied Palestinian territory. Khezir Shahin reporter of the Al-alam international News Network was taken in custody by the Israeli forces on Gaza Strip on Monday, the network reported Tuesday. The Israeli army issued a statement claiming the reporter was trying to illegally cover the Israeli operation...

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) condemned Monday the attacks committed by the Israeli forces against Palestinian media in Gaza. In addition, PEC, in a statement issued in Geneva, said that it also deplored the fact that Israel is not allowing non-resident media in Gaza to cover the current conflict. PEC called upon Israel to implement UN Security Council resolution 1738 that forbids any attacks...

The Israeli ban on foreign journalists from entering Gaza to cover the conflict is a dangerous violation of press freedom that adds to "ignorance, uncertainty and fear" in the region, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said. IFJ says that the presence of independent reporters on the ground is needed to ensure that there are no flagrant abuses of human rights by combatants. IFJ's...

US troops shot and critically wounded a newly-wed Iraqi female television producer on New Year's Day after she failed to heed warnings from soldiers in Baghdad, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting the military and her station. A US military statement said that Iraqi police and US soldiers had observed Hadil Emad, who had had failed to listen to warnings, behaving "erratically" before...

The Iranian government has taken advantage of Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip to crack down harder on its critics, closing an opposition newspaper and dispatching its supporters to step up a campaign of intimidation against human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi. The Commission for the Authorisation and Surveillance of the Press ordered Kargozaraan’s suspension on December 31 under articles 5...

An Algerian court sentenced an editor-in-chief and a journalist at the Algiers-based independent daily El Watan to a three-month jail term each for defamation late last month. Omar Belhouchet, editor of El Watan, and reporter Salima Tlemcani, were found guilty on December 23 last of defaming a faith healer and Islam in a 2004 article about the "charlatan-like practices" of the Algiers healer, said...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the intimidation of Tunisian journalists who tried to cover efforts on December 30 last by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to demonstrate against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Two journalists were assaulted and three faced harassment in Tunis, according to several CPJ interviews. Al-Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji told CPJ...

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush will go on trial this month on charges that carry up to 15 years in jail, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting a judge. Zaidi became a hero to many in the Arab world when he threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14. Investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani rejected new...

Guardian News & Media will launch a newswire serving the Arab region in the first quarter of next year. The Arab-language news service will be provided through Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq, based in Qatar, which will translate up to 15 stories per day for use by media outlets in the Middle East region, Brand Republic has reported. Some sketchy details: [ Link] Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian...

A court in Gafsa (350 km south of Tunis) has sentenced reporter Fahem Boukadous in absentia to six years in prison on a charge of “forming a criminal association liable to attack persons and their property” for covering demonstrations in the Gafsa mining region. Boukadous works for Al-Hiwar Attounsi, a privately-owned TV station based in Italy that broadcasts to Tunisia. “This harsh sentence is...