DUBAI: Sudan suspended Saudi Arabia’s state-owned broadcasters Al Arabiya and Al Hadath and the UAE-owned Sky News Arabia channel on Tuesday “due to its lack of commitment to the required professionalism and transparency and failure to renew its licenses,” according to Sudan’s state news agency.
The bureau chief of the Al Arabiya Arabic office in Sudan said the channel was not officially informed of the decision and could therefore not determine when operations should cease.
“We reject accusations of unprofessionalism and we have been covering since the beginning of the war,” she said.
Al Hadath stated, in a post on X, that it had not been notified of the decision to suspend the work of its channel and Al Arabiya in Sudan.
Al Arabiya’s Sudan bureau chief said that the licenses for offices of both broadcasters in Sudan have been renewed periodically.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate condemned the decision taken by the information ministry, saying it was a violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
“Closing satellite channels and restricting those working in the profession would silence the voice of the professional media, and would also open the door to the spread of rumors and hate speech,” it said in a statement.
The war in Sudan, which has been ongoing for nearly a year, erupted over disputes about the powers of the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces under an internationally backed plan for a political transition toward civilian rule and free elections.
Since the conflict began, more than 13,000 people have been killed and 8 million displaced, according to the UN.
