Bahrain forces daily to sack journalist

Bahrain forces daily to sack journalist

Mon Apr 4, 2011 4:49AM

Newspapers with headlines reporting Bahrain has suspended opposition newspaper Al-Wasat are seen in a local coffee shop in Manama April 3, 2011.

Bahraini authorities have forced a banned opposition daily to fire its editor-in-chief to be allowed to return to newsstands in the crisis-hit Persian Gulf country.

The move came one day after the Bahraini government banned the publication of Al-Wasat newspaper due to its coverage of the popular revolution in the tiny Arab state.

"The board of directors decided to sack Al-Wasat's editor-in-chief Mansur al-Jamri... Meanwhile, the Information Affairs Authority (IAA) has decided to allow Al-Wasat to republish as per tomorrow," Bahrain's official News Agency (BNA) said in a statement on Monday.

The IAA on Sunday also referred the leading independent newspaper to court for investigation.

Jamri, a former opposition activist during the uprising in the 1990s, was replaced by Obaidaly al-Obaidaly.

Bahraini authorities also sacked Walid Nouwaihidh, the managing editor of Al-Wasat, and head of local news Aqeel Mirza.

"The panel has also decided to elect a new board of directors within a month," the BNA statement further said.

The Bahraini police, backed by Saudi and UAE troops, have intensified the clampdown on anti-government protesters who demand a constitutional monarchy.

Rights groups and opposition parties say hundreds of people have been detained or have gone missing in Bahrain since the protests began in mid-February, with at least 26 people killed and 1,000 others wounded so far.

Hassan Jassim Mohammed Maki, an ailing Bahraini anti-government protester, reportedly died on Sunday in the custody of security forces due to lack of medical care.

The 39-year-old was arrested on March 28 on charges of what Manama called rioting and vandalism.

DB/HJL/HRF