Last update - 00:00 01/07/2007
Report: Gaza journalist seeking asylum in Norway due to threats
By The Associated Press
A journalist who worked for the Al-Arabiya television network in the Gaza Strip is seeking asylum in Norway, saying his family was threatened because of his reporting, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK reported.
"We came to Norway because I, my wife and children received death threats, and we decided to leave Gaza where I could not continue as a free-speaking journalist," Saif el-Deen Shahin was quoted as saying in a report on NRK's Web site.
Norway's Foreign Ministry could not confirm Sunday that Shahin had applied for asylum in the Nordic country.
Gaza has been roiled by violence surrounding Hamas' takeover of the thin coastal strip and the radical group's subsequent expulsion from the Palestinian government by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement.
Hamas had accused Al-Arabiya of bias toward Fatah in the months leading up to its sweep of Gaza.
Shahin said only about 10 percent of journalists in Gaza dare to carry out their profession.
"The rest have stopped working because of pressure and fears for their lives," Shahin was quoted as saying in the report posted Thursday. "All the political and military groups make neutral reporting impossible because they pressure journalists to tell their version of the truth, and to be their spokesmen."
The report said Shahin was beaten up and threatened after describing the kidnappers of BBC reporter Alan Johnston as criminals.
Naser al-Sarami, head of media at Al-Arabiya, said they were not aware of any threats made against the correspondent.
A senior official from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Shahin, who had worked as a reporter in Gaza since 1998, had not registered any formal complaints of threats or attacks against him. The official spoke on condition of anonymity according to professional rules.
Al-Arabiya's Gaza office said Shahin took his annual leave to Norway on June 6, because his daughter needed medical treatment there. They said he was expected back on July 6, and did not know whether he had applied for asylum.
In Oslo, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kristin Enstad said she was not aware of the asylum application, but added that Norwegian immigration authorities normally do not comment on individual cases.
Shahin urged the Norwegian government to press Abbas to use his influence to improve security for journalists in the Palestinian territories.
"There is a lot that Abbas can do to give protection to journalists," he said. "In 2007 our office was blown up without any reaction from the government. They don't do all they can to provide for the protection of journalists."
A bomb blast damaged the door of the Gaza Al-Arabiya office earlier this year, after the news station ran footage of now-deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, which the militant group said was offensive. However, they denied they were behind the bombing.