News / Persian Gulf

Kuwait orders closure of critical paper

Tuesday, 20 January 2015 11:29 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 20 January 2015 11:30 PM ]

The headquarters of Kuwaiti newspaper al-Watan (file photo)

Kuwait has ordered the closure of al-Watan, a mainstream newspaper that has been critical of the government and defied a gag order last year.

The newspaper said on its website on Tuesday that the order had been issued by the Commerce Ministry, which said the newspaper had failed to meet minimum capital requirements.

The paper has not withheld from criticizing the administration over the past two years. Last year, it was momentarily forbidden from publishing for refusing to mind a prohibition on the release of information about a secret probe into allegations of a coup plot to overthrow the government.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah, the state minister for cabinet affairs, however, told reporters that the decision was "not politically motivated."

Former Oil Minister Sheikh Ali Khalifa Al Sabah and his son Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al Khalifa Al Sabah, respectively the paper’s owner and its editor-in-chief, are members of the country’s ruling family.

Al-Watan says it has challenged the decision in court and that an urgent hearing has been set for Wednesday.

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