Nass Press and Al-Shoura.net halt publication [Archives:2007/1060/Local News]

SANA'A, June 16 ) After continuous demonstrations and sit-ins by different pressmen, political activists, civil society organizations' affiliates and others in protest against limiting expression freedom, Nass Press and Al-Shoura.net websites halted their publications for reasons unknown to none but those in charge of these two web sites.

Pressured by pressmen insistence, the government halted the blocking of websites and news services of Nass Mobile and Without Chains Mobile. It also halted blocking the websites that were early blocked such as Al-Ishtiraki.net and Al-Shoura.net.

In a letter published on their web site on Friday, Al-Shoura.net told its readers they will give up updating the website for reasons out of their control. However, they promised to continue as soon as things get better. The same thing applies to Nass press.

Some observers believe Nass Press halted publication because of disputes with the late Hamid Shahrah's brother which also forced the Editor-in-Chief Ali Al-Jaradi and the Managing Editor Abdulbaset Al-Qa'edi to resign their posts. However, such claims were refuted by Shahrah's brother. On the other side, official media claimed that the step was taken because both sites suffer financial hardships.

Early, some MPs demanded the government to stop its suppressive acts against the websites and the new services provided through mobile phone companies. They also asked the state to give up its monopoly over radio and television and to allow private sectors and individuals to have their own channels.
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