Amman - The Jordan Press Association (JPA) on Tuesday
criticised the government's halting of the publication of al-Majd
weekly newspaper as 'illegal' under the recently enacted press and
printing law.
'The new press and printing law includes a clause that considers
censorship of printed media illegal,' the JPA chairman Tareq Momani
said.
The Amman-based Centre for Protection of Journalists and Press
Freedom has also condemned the government's move.
According to al-Majd's editor-in-chief, Fahd Rimawi, the Jordanian
security authorities on Monday intervened to prevent the printing of
the weekly because the new edition 'included a report about a plan
forwarded to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that strengthens
his position versus the rival Hamas group.'
'The report also envisaged elevating Abbas' power to the level
where he can fire the Hamas-led government and call early elections
later this year,' he added.
Rimawi alleged that the authorities offered to allow him to
publish the paper's new edition if he agreed to remove that article,
but he 'refused.'
The government has so far withheld comment on Rimawi's remarks.
Abbas and the Hamas-led government concluded an agreement with
Saudi brokerage in Mecca in February that put an end to 12 months of
power struggle which developed into bloody fighting between the
president's Fatah group and Hamas.
The Mecca accord paved the ground for forging the present
Palestinian national unity government with portfolios shared by
Fatah, Hamas and independent politicians.
The Jordanian government has backed Abbas and refrained from
establishing official communication with Hamas, which scored a
sweeping victory at the January 2006 elections in the Palestinian
territories.
However, King Abdullah II and other senior officials have
repeatedly expressed keenness on unification of Palestinian ranks and
avoiding a repetition of feuds that triggered inter-Palestinian
fighting.
Jordan has also adopted a traditional policy of preventing the
publication of reports that could injure the country's ties with
other Arab and friendly countries.
Two weeks ago, the Jordanian authorities seized a videotape for an
interview that was conducted by the Doha-based al-Jazeera television
with Prince Hassan, the king's uncle.
The videotape reportedly included remarks that could negatively
affect Jordan's ties with Saudi Arabia.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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