Kuwaiti Daily Rolls Off Press With Story About Censorship

For the first time since Iraq’s invasion, a full-scale daily newspaper went on sale here Saturday. It carried an interview with the information minister saying press censorship remains in effect.

The New Dawn, which printed about 20,000 copies of its inaugural, 12-page edition, is the first daily since liberation on Feb. 27 to receive government permission to publish.

A handful of weeklies appeared last month, produced on copying machines and limited to a few thousand copies per issue. The one with the highest profile, February 26, was ordered closed by the government in March because it refused to accept censorship.

The New Dawn carried an interview with Information Minister Badr Jassem Yaqoub, who said press censorship will remain in effect until a new press law is adopted. He gave no indication when that might happen.

The New Dawn’s publisher is Yusef Olayan, head of the Kuwaiti Journalists Assn. and former publisher of one of the emirate’s two English-language dailies, the Kuwait Times.

The new paper, written in Arabic, is being printed on the Kuwait Times’ presses. Iraqi troops stole seven of the nine large printing presses in Kuwait city.

Olayan said his paper is privately owned and will espouse a “moderate” viewpoint.

He said the newspaper will practice self-censorship and there would be no government censor assigned to the newsroom.

Press censorship was imposed in 1986, when the emir, Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah, suspended the constitution and dissolved Parliament.

Reporters at the paper said no wire services are available yet, and they are relying on radio reports for their foreign news.