Yemeni media face crackdown

Press freedom organisation Reporters without Borders (RWB) warned on Wednesday about the growing number of attacks and intimidation against journalists in Yemen. "Reporters without Borders roundly condemns a recent surge in media freedom violations and attacks on journalists at a time of political tension in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for February 21," a statement said. Four journalists have recently been threatened with death because of their articles and there have also been calls, mostly from clerics or extremists, to close certain newspapers, the Organisation reported. "Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns" religious edicts or "fatwas", which "aims to silence journalists and activists who say the revolution has been confiscated...(and) many newspapers continue to be the target of threats and attacks by the supporters of former President Ali Abdallah Saleh," it added. Saleh is currently in the United States for medical treatment and is due to resign after the elections this month. "The intimidation practices and death threats to which journalists are currently exposed must stop," Reporters without Borders said. "Freedom of expression and media freedom are essential conditions for change in a country that is trying to rebuild after years of authoritarian rule and a year of repression." (