Kuwait

New York, August 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the arrest of two Kuwaiti journalists by the state security services in Kuwait City on Saturday.

State security officers arrested Bashar al-Sayegh, an editor for the daily newspaper Al-Jarida, by order of the general prosecutor’s office, said Hussein al-Abdallah, the journalist’s attorney. Jassim al-Qames, another editor at the paper, told CPJ he photographed the arrest, prompting the officers to detain and beat him. Al-Qames was released on Sunday without charge.

By Joel Campagna

Saudi Arabia loosens press shackles, but religion and politics are still perilous topics.

SNAPSHOTS

Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Sudan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

Arabic Satellite Channels and Censorship By Joel Campagna Committee to Protect Journalists

Kuwait

Kuwait's press is widely recognized as the freest among the Gulf states. Newspapers frequently give voice to the country's political opposition, and columnists do not spare government officials guilty of corruption or mismanagement. But criminal press statutes remain on the books, and several journalists faced prosecution in 2004.

Overview
By Joel Campagna

The conflict in Iraq led to a harrowing number of press attacks in 2004, with local journalists and media support workers primarily in the line of fire. Twenty-three journalists and 16 support staff—drivers, interpreters, fixers, and guards—were killed while on the job in Iraq in 2004. In all, 36 journalists and 18 support workers died from the beginning of hostilities in March 2003 to the end of 2004, making the conflict in Iraq one of the most dangerous for journalists in recent history. Only conflicts in Algeria, Colombia, the Balkans, and the Philippines have resulted in similarly high numbers of journalists killed since CPJ was founded in 1981.

Your Highness: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned by recent statements Your Highness made threatening to suspend or shut down newspapers that publish information related to the Kuwaiti government's current fight against religious extremists.