Forum for the future: US and G8 asked to make press freedom a priority for "Broader Middle East"

Press freedom should not be the "notable absentee" at the Forum for the Future being held as a result of a US initiative in Morocco on 10-11 December and, on the contrary, this basic right should high on the list of reforms in the so-called Broader Middle East and North Africa region (BMENA) defined by Washington, Reporters Without Borders said today. "Press freedom is not respected in the overwhelming majority of countries in this region," Reporters Without Borders said. "Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Tunisia - to name just the worst - constantly flout the public right to be informed and, in the region as a whole, at least 600 million people are denied access to independent, free and credible information." Press offences and defamation are punishable by imprisonment in almost all the countries from Morocco to Pakistan, in violation of UN recommendations and international standards in general, the press freedom organisation said. In varying degrees, the authorities in these countries all use repressive methods to deal with journalists. Whether by censorship or by forcing journalists to censor themselves, they all keep the press under close control. "We call on the G8 countries and the United States to make their economic and financial aid to the countries of this region conditional on their attitude towards free expression, especially press freedom," Reporters Without Borders said. The conference being hosted in the Moroccan capital of Rabat is the first meeting of the Forum for the Future that resulted from a proposed "Partnership for Progress and a Common Future with the Region of the Broader Middle East and North Africa" adopted by G8 heads of state and government at their last summit in Sea Island, in the United States, on 8-10 June. The primary purpose of the conference is to facilitate financial and economic measures but, although the goals are now more modest than originally envisaged, US officials say it could also pave the way for large-scale political reforms. Foreign and finance ministers from the 28 countries in the BMENA region and their G8 counterparts are due to attend.