Newspaper's fate in doubt over libel damages

The survival of a Moroccan newspaper is in doubt after it was ordered to pay 3m dirhams (£180,000) in damages following a libel case brought by the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre (ESISC), a Brussels-based think-tank. Aboubakr Jamai , managing director of the Casablanca newspaper Hebdomadaire, and a journalist, Fahd Iraqi, have been given a week to raise the money. The press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, said: "We are surprised by the ESISC decision. It said on several occasions it wanted to seek a settlement and did not intend to insist on payment of the damages." The libel action was over an article which questioned the objectivity of an ESISC report about the Polisario Front, the group fighting for independence for Western Sahara. (Via Reporters Without Borders)