New York, November 4, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
condemns yesterday's decision by Kuwaiti authorities to suspend Al-Jazeera's
Kuwait bureau.
Saad al-Enezi, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Kuwait, told CPJ he received
a telephone call from the Ministry of Information yesterday informing
him of the Kuwaiti government's decision. He said that no specific reason
was given for the decision, other than that Al-Jazeera was "biased" against
Kuwait.
Al-Jazeera has received no written document regarding the decision or
what government agency was behind it. Al-Enezi said he was not told if
the closure was temporary or permanent.
This is not the first time Al-Jazeera has suffered
reprisal for its reporting in Kuwait. In June 1999, the Kuwaiti information
minister issued a decree prohibiting Al-Jazeera reporters from covering
stories in the country. The next month, the decision was reversed, and
the station opened a bureau in Kuwait in April 2001.
"These arbitrary restrictions on Al-Jazeera, including the shuttering
of its bureau, clearly violates press freedom," said CPJ executive director,
Ann Cooper. "We urge the authorities to allow Al-Jazeera to resume activities
in Kuwait."
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