French weekly Courrier International censored

Reporters Without Borders protested to the Lebanese government today after the authorities tore an article about the Prophet Mohammed out of 280 copies of the paper on arrival in Lebanon on 26 June. “We thought these practices of censorship were a thing of the past in Lebanon, but we were obviously wrong,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “We hope the authorities will find an honourable solution to the dispute. An apology to the paper would be welcome.” The article, headed “Iran: the disturbing beauty of the Prophet,” was torn out of the 24-28 June issue and said Iranian Shiites, unlike Sunni Muslims, allowed depiction of Mohammed. It was accompanied by a photo of a young man, taken by a Tunisian in 1905 and presented in Iran as a picture of the Prophet. The Lebanese distributors of the paper, with interior ministry approval, tore out the pages so as to avoid destruction of the whole issue. The ministry said on 28 June that it had been done because the article “offended the dignity of Islam and was likely to provoke religious tension between Muslims.” Several journalists protested against the decision. Ziyad Makhoul, of the daily L'Orient-Le Jour, who wrote an article about it, told Reporters Without Borders that “if Lebanon is to progress, old habits must change.” A violent demonstration took place in Beirut in February again the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in the Danish paper Jyllands Posten the previous September.