OMANI AMBASSADOR DENIES BAN OF WRITERS

UNCLAS MUSCAT 002226

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

NEA/ARPI, DRL/CRA (DDOLAN),DRL/PHD, NEA/PPD, NEA/PI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV MU
SUBJECT: OMANI AMBASSADOR DENIES BAN OF WRITERS

REF: MUSCAT 02180


1. (U) The Omani Ambassador to the United States, Mohammed
Ali al-Khusaiby, flatly denies that the Omani government has
banned any writers (reftel). In a December 8 reply to the
New York-based NGO Committee for the Protection of
Journalists (CPJ),the Omani Ambassador reaffirmed the
Sultanate's commitment to its 1996 constitution (Basic
Statute) that guarantees citizens civil, political, social
and economic rights, including freedom of speech. The
Ambassador stated that the recent decision by Omani news and
media outlets to remove articles by Mohammed al-Harthi and
Abdullah al-Riyami were independent editorial decisions. He
further went on to highlight the "great" achievements of the
Sultanate in the last thirty years and asked that the CPJ
have "due regard" for the efforts made by the government for
all the people of Oman.


2. (U) In the Omani Internet chatroom Al-Sablah, Mohammed
al-Harthi posted a rambling and critical response to the
Ambassador's letter. In his diatribe, al-Harthi referred to
the freedom of press in the Basic Statute as "ink on paper"
that has yet to be realized by journalists and writers in
Oman. He also blamed Oman's presence on international
watchlists for the "shallowness" of the vision of those in
charge at the Ministry of Information (MOI). Al-Harthi went
on to blast Ambassador al-Khusaiby's attempt to defend the
government as indefensible. Moreover, he alluded to articles
of the Basic Statute that he believes violate freedom of
expression. (Note: Article 29 guarantees freedom of
expression "within the limits of the law." Anything that
leads to public discord or violates public morale and conduct
or opposes the general law is prohibited. End note.)
Al-Harthi chastised the Ambassador for not getting his facts
straight and being uninformed about the actions of the
Ministry of Information. He said that the Ambassador has
attempted to "reason the unreasonable and justify the
unjustifiable" by saying that the decision to ban writers is
up to editors.


3. (SBU) Poet Abdullah al-Riyami told Emboff that he intends
to submit his own response to the Ambassador's letter. Both
writers have expressed their disbelief at the Omani
Ambassador's apparent lack of information regarding the ban
and continue to assert the MOI's behind-the-scenes role. The
two writers' cause has become daily fodder for Al-Sablah and,
in turn, has elevated the writers' profile.
BALTIMORE