A foreign correspondent banned, other journalists attacked and media censored

Reporters Without Borders today condemned a two-week-old wave of repression against the news media in Syria, including physical attacks, threats, summonses and censorship, and an information ministry announcement on 15 March that Ammar Mussareh, the correspondent of the US Arabic-language TV station Al Hurra, can no longer work in Syria. "It is unacceptable that the Syrian authorities continue to use repressive methods and intimidation against journalists," the press freedom organization said. "Foreign correspondents should be able to work normally in Syria, but instead they are kept under surveillance and their movements are restricted." Reporters Without Borders accused the government of continuing to use a state of emergency decreed in March 1963 as a pretext for harassing journalists and human rights workers, and said it seemed bent on preventing the emergence of a free and independent press. "It is time Bashar al-Assad set the news media free," the organization added. The information ministry said Mussareh, who is also a stringer for the US Arabic-language radio station Radio Sawa, could no longer work in Syria because he did not have valid accreditation. But human rights activist and lawyer Anwar Bunni said Mussareh had valid accreditation that was withdrawn because of his coverage of an opposition sit-in staged in Damascus on 10 March to demand an end to the state of emergency and the special courts, and to mark the first anniversary of clashes between Kurds, Arab tribes and Syrian security forces in the town of Kamichli. Al Hurra was the only TV station to film the demonstration, during which the security forces beat several journalists and smashed or confiscated their cameras. Bunni said a German and a Frenchman were among the reporters present, but their identities were not known. Afterwards, the information ministry told the press office, which provides foreign correspondents with equipment and services, to stop working with Mussareh. The measures against Al Hurra coincide with a chill in diplomatic relations between the United States and Syria. Al Hurra is part of the Middle East Television Network (MTN), which is financed by the US congress. It began broadcasting on 14 February 2004 from the state of Virginia, outside Washington. Radio Sawa, whose studios are in Washington, was created by the government in 2001, replacing the Voice of America's Arabic-language service. Intimidation and censorship Earlier this week, a municipal official and policemen threatened Assif Ibrahim, a journalist with the official daily newspaper of the ruling Baath party, and subsequently destroyed the door of his home. This occurred after Ibrahim wrote a report about corruption in a Damascus neighbourhood where a building under construction allegedly violates safety standards and will pose a danger to its future tenants. Information minister Mahdi Dakhlallah last week told four newspapers their permission to publish had been withdrawn. They were Al Ousboua Al Iktissadi (The Economic Weekly), a business weekly which had just brought out its first issue, Al Riyadiya Oua Al-Chabab (Sport and Youth), a new magazine for young people and sports fans, and two other newspapers that had not even brought out their first issues. Several reporters have meanwhile been summoned for questioning about their articles since the start of the month. This practice is often used by the authorities to intimidate and silence journalists. Syria was ranked 155th in the third annual Reporters Without Borders classification of countries around the world according to their respect for press freedom, published in October 2004. Bashar al-Assad is on the Reporters Without Borders worldwide list of predators of press freedom.