Al-Ahram Weekly | Region

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Morocco curbs the media
EDITORS of three Moroccan newspapers, banned over a story implicating the political left in a bid to kill the late King Hassan II, have said they will fight the decision in the Supreme Court.
The Moroccan government banned three weeklies -- Le Journal, As-Sahifa and Demain -- on Saturday for "threatening the stability of the state," Culture and Communications Minister Mohamed Achari declared.
The government decision was prompted by the appearance in Le Journal on 25 November of a letter attributed to former opposition leader Mohammed Basri implicating socialist politicians in a foiled 1972 coup attempt.
The journalists challenged the decision at a press conference Sunday night. Aboubakr Jamai, editor of Le Journal and As-Sahifa, said 76 staff members at the three papers would lose their jobs, adding that he will set up a new publication to appear next week.
The Federation of Arab journalists (FAJ) expressed its deep concern over the closures "which negatively affect the margin of freedom of expression which Morocco enjoys." Salaheddin Hafez, secretary-general of the federation said that "the banning of the newspapers without a court order is a direct confiscation to the freedom of the press."
Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF, Reporters Without Borders) sent a letter to the king, asking him "to intervene personally to revoke the banning decision."
The ban follows two other recent crackdowns on press freedom in Morocco.
Ramadan violence
ALGERIAN authorities have put military and police forces on alert and reinforced security in the main cities to face a surge of attacks by Islamist extremists during Ramadan.
Five civilians and four soldiers were killed in Algeria this weekend, in the first reported attacks since the start of the holy month, official sources said on Monday.
However, according to the Algerian press, the number of victims of this week's attacks reached 15, including soldiers on leave.
Algerian Islamist militants traditionally see Ramadan as the sacred period for their struggle. About 100 people were killed during Ramadan last year in Algeria.
Le Quotidien d'Oran daily newspaper said a group of rebels wearing military uniforms set up a fake roadblock near the city of Batna, east of Algiers, and slaughtered 12 passengers of a bus coming from the western city of Oran.
In another rebel raid in the town of Berouaghia, south of Algiers, three civilians were shot dead on Saturday, the Arabic-language newspaper El-Khabar said. More than 100,000 people have been killed since 1992 in Algeria in a cycle of violence and revenge after the army-backed authorities cancelled a general election which the Islamists were poised to win.
Syria liberalises
IN A MEETING chaired by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad last week, the ruling Baath Party approved the establishment of private banks in Syria for the first time in almost 40 years. The Syrian leadership also took preliminary measures on Saturday to establish a stock market and to float the Syrian pound, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency. The banks will be set up either as private, joint-stock companies or will be jointly owned by the government and the private sector, said the agency.
After Syria nationalised foreign and private banks in the early 1960s, the state established five government banks to finance various sectors of the economy including industry, commerce, agriculture and real estate. The banks also extended personal credit to government employees, who comprise most of the workforce.
The Syrian Minister of Economy Mohamed Imadi said the new private banks will not replace the five state-run banks, but will complement them.
The new steps are part of the country's recent efforts at economic reform since Al-Assad became president in July.
Virtual protest
TWO Turkish hackers erased the Web site of the Turkish prime minister's office on Sunday in protest against government plans for a limited pay rise to public sector employees.
"This web page has been destroyed by RobertoSmix and apprentice eXtraxheR and all the information has been stolen," read a message left by the hackers on the Web site. It added that the raid was carried out in protest against the 10 per cent pay rise the government has decided to give public sector employees for the first half of 2001. The increase is part of a tight anti-inflation programme backed by a three-year $4 billion stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund.
"The hackers themselves are the children of civil servants," read the message. The pirates said they had done no permanent damage to the Web site, adding that they were willing to share the information they extracted with "anyone who wants it."
The government's proposed pay rise was recently protested by tens of thousands of workers and civil servants who took to the streets in a nationwide strike.
compiled by Rasha Saad

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