Bahrain more Hostility toward Free Press

Bahrain expels Reuters correspondent
LONDON | Tue May 10, 2011 12:12pm EDT
LONDON (Reuters) – Bahrain said on Tuesday that it was expelling the Reuters correspondent in the Gulf kingdom.

Frederik Richter, who has been based in the capital Manama since 2008, was told to leave within a week after officials complained Reuters had lacked balance in its reporting during the recent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. “Reuters regrets Bahrain’s decision to expel its correspondent,” Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said. “We stand by Frederik Richter’s reporting and we will continue to provide comprehensive and unbiased coverage from the country.”

An official at the Information Affairs Authority, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nezar al-Khalifa, said Bahrain was not closing down the Reuters operations in Manama and would accredit another correspondent nominated by the agency. We have no problem with Reuters. We’re not closing the office and (Reuters) can send in a replacement,” he said.

Popular protests across the Arab world this spring have put authoritarian rulers under pressure, leading many to impose curbs on the media. Before Bahrain, Syria, Libya and Saudi Arabia had expelled Reuters correspondents in recent weeks. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the intensity of recent repression and attacks on the media in the Middle East and North Africa unprecedented. …more