Middle East & North Africa

New York, March 11, 2013--A Ukrainian journalist reportedly held by rebel forces in Syria since October is free, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and news reports citing the journalist's relatives. Most news reports characterized Anhar Kochneva as having fled her captors, but few details were reported about the circumstances.

New York, March 8, 2013--Gunmen stormed the offices of a television station in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Thursday amid a protest outside the station's studios, according to news reports. The gunmen abducted at least five journalists and media workers, the reports said, although all were released within 24 hours.

New York, March 7, 2013--Iranian authorities have banned three reformist news outlets and arrested four journalists in the past two days, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iranian government's continuing attempts to stifle the press in the run-up to the presidential elections in June and calls on authorities to immediately halt their campaign of harassment against the media.

Istanbul-based McClatchy correspondent Roy Gutman has been honored for his reporting from Srebrenica to Baghdad. But he can't get a visa for Iran. He blames the U.S. government, at least in part. 

News accounts reported that Jalal Mohamed al-Jamal, manager of the local news website Al-Awamia, was freed from prison on March 5, 2013. It was unclear why the journalist, who was jailed without charge for more than a year, had been released.

New York, March 5, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of freelance journalist Billy Six, held by Syrian authorities for two and a half months. Syrian authorities handed Six over to Russian diplomats today who helped him leave the country.

"We are relieved that Billy Six has been released safely and can return home," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "Our hope is the families of all journalists missing and kidnapped in Syria will soon have reason to celebrate as well. We call on all parties to assist in finding and releasing all missing journalists in Syria."

The Bahraini press, like almost everything else in the island country, is sharply divided. If the government would take steps to strengthen press freedom instead of restricting access, then much of this divide could be bridged.

New York, March 4, 2013--Iranian authorities arrested another journalist this weekend as part of a broad crackdown aimed at intimidating the press before Iran's presidential election in June. Mohammad Javad Rouh, editor for the reformist monthly magazine Mehrnameh, was arrested in his home in Tehran on Sunday, according to news reports.

A military court in the city of Ashkelon extended the detention of Mohammad Saba'aneh, a Palestinian cartoonist for Al-Hayat al-Jadida, on February 28, 2013, for a second time, according to news reports. His detention was extended for eight days, Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported citing the cartoonist's lawyer.

New York, February 26, 2013--Egyptian authorities must bring to justice the kidnappers of Mohamed el-Sawi, an online journalist who was found yesterday on a desert road outside the city of Alexandria, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. El-Sawi's colleagues had reported him missing on February 21, two days after he was abducted.