Chad journalists strike over state censorship

Journalists in Chad have gone on strike in protest at state censorship. The press gag is part of the imposition of a six-month state of emergency by the government of President Idriss Deby. It means that six newspapers cannot publish for the next two weeks, while several radio stations must observe a three-day period of "silence". Yaldet Begoto Oulatar, publisher of the paper N'Djamena Bi-Hebdo, said: "The government is muzzling the press before it embarks on measures that it knows will be unpopular." And Nadjikimo Benoudjita, editor of Notre Temps, said: "We can't discuss Darfur or the conflict between rebels and government forces... We are not even allowed to say that we are censored." (Via http://english.aljazeera.net/">Aljazeera English)