The main local distributor of Far Eastern Economic Review, Time and Newsweek confirmed today that recent issues of the magazines have been withheld by the Home Ministry.

But we have not gotten any written notification from the ministry about the suspension, a source in Magazine Services Sdn Bhd told malaysiakini.

A spokesperson at the Review in Hong Kong told malaysiakini that there has been no change in the situation since its Jan 24 issue was banned.

Newsweeks Hong Kong bureau general manager Frank Proctor confirmed the magazines suspension by Malaysian authorities since Feb 4.

Malay daily Utusan Malaysia which carried the report yesterday had also named The Economist as one of the publications suspended until further notice by the Home Ministry. However, this was denied by the source in Magazine Services today.

The Economist has received the go-ahead from the ministry. There was a bit of delay in the approval, but the issue will still be distributed, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Running afoul of govt

Malaysiakini had earlier reported that the two US-based news magazines — Newsweek and The Review — had run afoul of government censors in the last two months for reports which the government claimed contained fabrications.

The Review in its banned Jan 24 issue, carried a controversial article entitled Secret Anwar deal? which claimed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had offered a conciliatory deal to his now jailed former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, during a secret, hour-long, four-wheel-drive ride outside Kuala Lumpur.

The weekly had apparently also irked the government with its report on the Indera Kayangan by-elections, which stated that the ruling Barisan Nasional candidate narrowly defeated its rival, when BN had actually won by a majority.

Then Newsweeks Feb 4 edition quoted a secret Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report which said Malaysia was a primary operational launchpad for the Sept 11 terrorist attacks.

Legal threat dispelled

The following week, the magazine was banned for publishing an image said to be that of Prophet Muhammad. Islam specifically prohibits imagery of the Prophet.

The government had even threatened legal action against the publications but this notion was dispelled by Deputy Home Affairs Minister Chor Chee Heung on Monday.

The clampdown on Time magazine stemmed from reports in its Feb 11 issue that the notorious al-Qaeda network was operating actively in Malaysia, thus painting the country as a terrorist haven.

Time was not available for comment.