Saudi Arabia: Preventing a reform journalist from writing

The Saudi Arabian journalist who supports reforms in Saudi Arabia, Hussein Shabakshi, yesterday announced that the Saudi government preventing him from writing.

In a telephone interview, Shabakshi said he had received a notification form the Saudi daily Okaz several days ago stating that that the ministry of information informed him that he can not any longer write for the paper.

Al-Shabakshi, who has a program on al-Arabia TV station said he thinks that the reason is the last article in which he talked about his vision to the country. Al-Shabakshi wrote in the paper which used to publish one article for him on weekly basis, that he dreams of the day when the Saudis cast their votes and discuss human rights, woman's driving a car. A matter which angered the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia.

The reformer Islamist writer Abdul Aziz al-Qasem said yesterday that Mufti Abdul Aziz Abdullah al-Sheikh banned this week issuing his views in another paper.

In a press statement, al-Qasem said "The Mufti asked to have a look on a copy of an interview the paper had with him after he had asked the paper not to be publish it. Qasem, a former legislative judge, said that the Mufti considered his view as a "criticism to the Wahhabis."