DUBAI: The government in Sunni-ruled Bahrain
announced on Sunday an indefinite ban on the independent Al-Wasat newspaper on accusations that it publishes "what sows division" in the Shia-majority Gulf kingdom.
The ministry of information affairs said it had decided to bar the publication and stop its circulation "until further notice", according BNA state news agency, without specifying if the ban affects the electronic edition.
The order was due to Al-Wasat's "violation of the law and repeatedly publishing what sows division in the society and affects Bahrain's relations with other states," BNA said.
The decision came after the paper published an article on Sunday that was "offensive to a sisterly Arab state," BNA said, in an apparent reference to an article that praised protests in Morocco.
The London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy criticised the decision, saying it was "the latest in an escalated crackdown on independent civil society". "They are trying to silence the only independent paper," BIRD's advocacy chief Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei said in a statement.
"Bahrain feels it can get away with any action because its key international allies the US and UK have shown they don't prioritise human rights".
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