Friday, Oct 12, 2007
Manama: An Arabic newspaper, backed by businessmen and a liberal MP, will be launched in Bahrain within five months, officials of the Bahrain Journalists Association yesterday told Gulf News.
Al Bilad (The Country) will be the seventh Arabic newspaper in Bahrain, a country with a total population of 750,000 including more than 300,000 non-Arabic speaking expatriates.
Abdul Nabi Al Sho'ala, a former labour minister, will chair the board which will include Younes Faraj, a local businessman who oversaw the advertisement department in Al Ayam newspaper, Dhiya Al Mousawi, a member of the upper house in the bicameral parliament, Baqer Al Najjar, a psychology professor, and Salman Al Mahmeed.
Lebanese journalist Khalil Al Khouri will be the editor of the newspaper, while the search for an editor-in-chief continues, the officials said. According to the Bahraini press law, the editor-in-chief must be a Bahraini national.
Another newspaper, Al Naba, will also be launched by Al Meer, a business group with Islamist leanings. The weekly paper will cover political, social and cultural issues, according to Abdul Aziz Al Meer, the group chairman.
"We will come out in January next year after running our final tests in December," he said yesterday in a statement.
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
