Saudi bans Al-Hayat newspaper

In 2002, Saudi censors banned the paper for printing an open letter from American intellectuals defending the US war on terror.

Saudi Arabia banned the sale of Monday’s issue of the Al-Hayat, the pan-Arab daily said today.

“It is true that the government stopped the distribution of Al-Hayat for one issue but the reason was not an article,” a member of Al-Hayat’s management in Saudi Arabia told ArabianBusiness.com on condition of anonymity.

“Up to this point, we do not know why distribution was stopped.”

Management at the publisher's London office had told ArabianBusiness.com earlier today that the Saudi edition had been banned because of a single article.

Al-Hayat, which is Saudi-owned and published from London, has been banned in the kingdom on numerous occasions, sometimes for up to a month.

In October 2002, Saudi censors banned a single edition of the paper for printing an open letter from 67 American intellectuals defending the US campaign against terrorism and calling on Saudi intellectuals to denounce extremism.

The Saudi government is known for its tight control and censorship of media in the kingdom.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Ban or Advertisement
Posted by Raja, Doha, Qatar on Wednesday 29 August 2007 at 10:00 UAE time

Ban means Advertisement.

Yes,..the news spread like a speed of light around the world. There is no meaning of ban such type of articles. It is a direct advertisement for the news and the Newspaper.

Saudi bans al Hayat Newspaper
Posted by nadim hamoud, Beirut, lebanon on Tuesday 28 August 2007 at 17:00 UAE time

Any person could check out the reason for the ban online, what is the use of the ban if we could get any information on the internet.

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