[Nasional-e] Samarinda administration to close Dayak Pos

[Ambon]

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20021214153350&ire
c=3

 Samarinda administration to close Dayak Pos over controversial article

JAKARTA (JP): The Samarinda administration announced on Saturday that it
would consider to close down the Dayak Pos tabloid for publishing an article
that allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad, Antara reported.

Deputy Mayor Syaharie Jaang said that the administration had pulled the
edition carrying the controversial article off the newsstands.

"We pulled the tabloid because it's dangerous. The misleading article
insults Muslims and Islam," he said.

He urged residents in possession of the tabloid to hand it over to the
administration's information agency, which will destroy all copies of the
issue.

Jaang, who is a member of the tabloid's board of trustees, claimed that he
had never been involved with editorial issues.

"I've been one of the trustees because I have close ties with the
journalists," he said, asking locals to let the police handle the case.

The Dayak Pos is not a major publication in Samarinda, and is mostly
distributed to employees of the Samarinda administration.

The Samarinda Police have charged the tabloid's chief editor, Minhayuddin
MH, who wrote the article, with insulting Prophet Muhammad following a
report from the Samarinda Ulemas Council.

In an article published early this month, Minhayuddin wrote that Muhammad's
father Abdullah had two wives, and that each of them bore him a son. One was
named Muhammad and the other Achmad. He claimed that Muhammad died shortly
after birth while Achmadsurvived and became known as the Prophet.