Journalists working for foreign media summoned by the authorities

Reporters Without Borders accused the Yemeni government today of trying to intimidate journalists working for foreign media by hauling them in for questioning. "The government is using this and legal action to cow journalists," said the organisation's secretary-general, Robert Ménard. He asked information minister Abdul Rahman al-Akwa and justice minister Ismail Ahmad al-Wazir to put a stop to the campaign, which he said was aimed at further reducing press freedom in Yemen. Three journalists – Faisal Mukarram of the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Hayat, Ahmed al-Haj of the US news agency Associated Press and Khaled al-Mahdi of the German news agency DPA – were questioned on 9 and 11 July by a court in Sana'a that deals with media offences. They were accused of publishing "military information without evidence and without consulting official sources as required by the press law." Mukarran refused to answer the questions of the judge, Fadil Mubarak al-Salmi, without the presence of a lawyer and a senior Yemeni journalist. The journalists were summoned after they wrote reports about the Yemeni army's bombing, on 5 and 6 July, of tribal areas in the northern part of the country after an attempt in the area on 4 July to assassinate the deputy head of the army, Brig. Ali Mohammed Saleh. Six other journalists were called to the information ministry on 7 July. They were Mohammed al-Qadhi of the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, Mohammed al-Globari of the UAE daily Al-Bayan, Said Thabet of Al-Qods Press, Ibrahim al-Ashmawi of the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, Arafat Madabish of Al-Akhbar al-Arab and Ahmed al-Jabali of Al-Ittihad. They were warned that if they wrote any more stories about military matters, their press accreditation would be withdrawn.                      The six journalists told the Yemen Times newspaper they were concerned by the ministry's warning, which they said aimed to gag the press and stop them doing their job honestly and freely. Reporters Without Borders notes that on 30 April, the interior minister warned journalists abut spreading false news liable to harm the country's image and interests. He said the ministry was the only institution allowed to make statements about national security and threatened to take legal action against anyone who disobeyed this rule.