Syria / Middle East & North Africa

  
Libyan rebels and journalists run for cover as pr-Qaddafi forces shell rebel positions just outside Brega. (AP/Altaf Qadri)

Journalists to be expelled from Libya; Bahrain deports 2

New York, April 6, 2011–More than 20 foreign journalists were told that they would have to leave Libya within 24 hours, National Public Radio said today. NPR reported that Libyan authorities asked journalists from different international news outlets to leave the country. The media outlets include Britain’s Channel 4, CNN, Fox News, The Independent, Italian…

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Syrians living in Jordan protest in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria. (Reuters/Majed Jaber)

Threats to Al-Jazeera in Jordan; journalists released in Syria

New York, April 5, 2011–Al-Jazeera staffers in Jordan have received anonymous threatening phone calls warning that their office and correspondents would be attacked, Al-Jazeera’s Amman bureau chief told CPJ. Journalists in Jordan have been facing mounting dangers while covering pro-reform demonstrations, CPJ research has found.

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Reuters journalists under attack in Syria, Libya

New York, March 30, 2011–Reuters said today it was urgently seeking the safe return of two of its veteran journalists in Syria, one of whom was said to be in state custody while the other was reported missing. In Libya, meanwhile, a Reuters correspondent was expelled today without explanation.

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Journalists detained in Bahrain, Egypt

New York, March 30, 2011–A CNN crew was detained today in Manama while interviewing a prominent Bahraini human rights defender, according to a Twitter posting by the network and a CPJ interview. The detentions come amid a recent series of repressive actions by the Bahraini government, which included today’s arrest of a well-known blogger. Anti-press…

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Syrians shout slogans in support of protesters in Deraa. (Reuters)

Syria cracks down on press; attacks in Libya, elsewhere

New York, March 28, 2011–Facing the nationwide spread of political unrest, Syrian authorities barred three Reuters journalists from reporting, blocked journalistic access to a hotbed of political dissent, censored a critical satellite station, and detained a political blogger. The widespread repression in Syria came on the same weekend that Libyan security agents forcibly barred a…

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Demonstrations in Sana'a. (AP/Muhammed Muheisen)

Al-Jazeera raided in Sana’a; attacks in Libya, Syria, Bahrain

New York, March 22, 2011–Plainclothes gunmen raided Al-Jazeera’s Sana’a bureau early this morning, confiscating equipment and obstructing operations, the Qatar-based news channel reported today as a drumbeat of anti-press attacks continued in the region. Arrests, attacks, and harassment were also reported in Libya, Syria and Bahrain in recent days.

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A screen grab taken from footage broadcast on Libyan state television on February 20 shows a televised address by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. (AFP/LIBYAN TV)

Journalists missing in Libya; one killed in Iraq bombing

New York, February 24, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists remains alarmed by the Libyan government’s ongoing, threatening rhetoric against the press, as well as the continued violence against journalists–a number of whom have not been heard from since demonstrations began on February 17. In a separate development, an Iraqi journalist was killed and another reporter…

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Ziad al-Ajili, head of Baghdad's Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, inspects the aftermath of a raid on his office today. (AP/Hadi Mizban)

Libya: foreign reporters ‘outlaws’; Mideast attacks continue

New York, February 23, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the ongoing attack on journalists and bloggers in the Middle East. Today the Libyan deputy foreign minister warned foreign journalists crossing the eastern border that they will be treated as “outlaws,” according to news reports. In Iraq, gunmen raided the office of a…

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Syrian blogger sentenced to five years in prison

New York, February 15, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing of blogger Tal al-Mallohi on Monday to five years in prison on state security charges and calls on Syrian authorities to release her immediately. Al-Mallohi, 20, was detained in 2009 and held in extrajudicial detention for close to a year, according to news…

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Attacks on the Press 2010: Middle East and North Africa Developments

ATTACKS ON THE PRESS: 2010 • Main Index Middle East and North Africa: • Suppression Under the Cover of National Security Country Summaries • Egypt • Iran • Iraq • Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory • Lebanon • Morocco • Sudan • Tunisia • Turkey • Yemen • Other nations ALGERIA In September, police…

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