West Asia - North Africa

Ali Al-Mashhadani, an Iraqi cameraman employed by the Reuters news agency, was arrested on July 26 by US troops while he was visiting the Iraqi parliament press centre in Baghdad's Green Zone. "Mashhadani has been held without charge by the US military since 26 July and must be freed at once," Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. "It is unacceptable that US troops arrest a journalist...

The Hamas-led government in Gaza should immediately halt a wave of censorship and harassment of Palestinian media outlets and journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. CPJ also called on the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding obstruction of certain media outlets in the West Bank On Tuesday, for the second consecutive day, Hamas banned distribution in...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressede concern over the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed on Fatah, which killed six people in Gaza, according to local...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV, in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed on Fatah, which killed six people in Gaza, according to local...

Kurdish freelance journalist Saman Rasoulpour was arrested on July 27 at his home in Mahabad, in Iran's predominantly Kurdish northwest, two days after some 200 Kurds staged a peaceful demonstration in Mahabad to demand the overturning of the death sentences imposed on journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar, and Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar. "We call on the authorities to...

Moroccan reporter Mostapha Hurmatallah of the weekly Al Watan Al An has been freed on completing his prison sentence. He had been in Casablanca's Oukacha prison since February 19, when Morocco's highest court of appeal ordered him to go back to jail to serve the rest of a seven-month term. Hurmatullah was released on July 25. "We welcome Hurmatallah's release with joy, but we reiterate our firm...

Iranian authorities have banned the evening edition of a large circulation newspaper for publishing news they said was harmful to the economy, according to news reports. "By a decision of the press supervisory board, Hamshahri evening edition has been banned. The reason for banning this publication was the propagation of untruthful news with the aim of creating disruption in the country's economic...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on Iranian authorities to release journalist Mahboubeh Karami of the government news agency ISNA at once. She has not seen a lawyer since her arrest in Tehran on June 13 after criticising the police for beating up demonstrators. The organisation is also concerned about the suspension of two weekly newspapers in the west of the country. "Mahboubeh Karami's...

Tunisian journalist Slim Boukhdir has been released from prison four months before the end of his sentence. The freelance journalist, set free on July 21, was held since November 26, 2007 in very harsh prison conditions at the civil jail in Sfax, 230 km south of the capital. Boukhdir, 39, is correspondent for the pan-Arab London-based newspaper al Quds al Arabi and for the website of satellite...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned condemns the murder of reporter Soran Mama Hama of the fortnightly magazine Leven, who was gunned down on July 21 outside his home in Kirkuk, in the northern region of Kurdistan. His colleagues said he had received threats about articles he had written on sensitive subjects. "We call on the Kurdistan authorities to carry out a thorough investigation...