Akhbar Al Khaleej
Akhbar Al Khaleej (in Arabic أخبار الخليج meaning The Gulf News) is a Bahraini daily publication.[1] The first editor-in-chief and founder was Mahmood Al Mardi and its staff composed of mainly Egyptian, Sudanese, and Bahraini journalists.Juan Cole on his Informed Comment website discussed the issue: Al-Hayat reports that Samirah Rajab published an op-ed in the Khalij Times [sic] after the recent Iraqi elections in which she referred to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani as "General Sistani" and complained that the Shiite cleric had legitimated the foreign military occupation of Iraq by supporting the elections and by helping pacify the country for the Americans.The article produced vehement protests among the Bahraini Shiite community (the majority of the population), and demands that Bahrain newspapers be censored so as to prevent such comments from appearing in the future.[1] In June 2009, the Ministry of Culture of Bahrain ordered that Akhbar Al Khaleej suspend publication for violating press laws; local sources alleged that it was a response to an article by Samira Rajab, which had attacked Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime in light of the Iranian presidential election and related protests.