LIBYA: Reporters Blocked In Hotel As Protests Are Expected

Source: AGI

LIBYA: Reporters Blocked In Hotel As Protests Are Expected
Source: AGI

Tripoli- Libyan authorities have blocked foreign journalists in a Tripoli hotel to prevent reports on the protests. The protests are expected to occur after Friday's prayers. Around 130 journalists are being kept within the Rixos hotel; though invited by the Libyan government their movements are strictly monitored.




Read more: http://www.agi.it/english-version/world/elenco-notizie/201103041102-cro-ren1024-libya_reporters_blocked_in_hotel_as_protests_are_expected

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Libyan officials bar reporters from leaving hotel

TRIPOLI | Fri Mar 4, 2011 4:07am EST

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan authorities blocked foreign journalists from leaving their hotel to report on expected protests by opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after Friday prayers.

When journalists including Reuters reporters tried to walk out of the gates of the main media hotel, to the south of Tripoli city center, security guards blocked their way.

A Libyan government spokesman said journalists were being kept in the Rixos hotel because their presence could trigger violence from what he described as affiliates of al Qaeda.

"These are exceptional circumstances. I know you're going to talk about it and twist it the way you want," said the spokesman Mussa Ibrahim. "We are preparing to pay this price of preventing you guys from reporting to avoid turning Tripoli into Baghdad."



http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/us-libya-protests-media-idUSTRE7231DU20110304

doesn't sound good.

Foreign journalists kept on tight leash in Libya (AFP)

4 March 2011, 8:05 PMTRIPOLI — Libyan authorities are keeping a tight leash on foreign journalists in Tripoli, banning them from leaving their hotel unaccompanied, feeding them misinformation and cutting off Internet access.

Restrictions intensified ahead of the weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, which have become in Libya a springboard for anti-regime protests, demanding the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, in power 41 years.

The doors of the Rixos hotel, where the majority of foreign correspondents are staying, were shut. The journalists were only allowed to leave once, on an organised tour escorted by officials.
¬snip¬
“Any journalist out on the streets without permission will be arrested. It’s a special day. Terrorist elements are seeking to provoke violence and the presence of the media can only make matters worse,” he told Western reporters.

more:http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/March/international_March217.xml§ion=international

...that went on solidly for several hours?

Kick. Rec'd at the time.