The latest edition of Newsweek has made it to the newsstands but the government continues to withhold the latest issues of two other American magazines, the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and Time .
Our Feb 25 issue is now being circulated in Malaysia and we are optimistic that circulation of future issues is now being resolved, said Newsweek s Hong Kong-based communications director Ken Weine via email today.
Local distributor Magazine Services also confirmed that Newsweek had hit the stores but said the other two magazines are yet to receive the green light from the Home Affairs Ministry.
The American magazines fell foul of government censors for carrying controversial reports linking Malaysia to the Sept 11 terror attacks on the United States.
The Feb 11 issue of Newsweek was banned for carrying an image said to be that of Prophet Muhammad, an act prohibited by Islam.
To date, four issues of Newsweek and Time have been delayed this year while FEER faced restrictions on five of its issues.
In a recent e-mail communiqu from Hong Kong, Time s senior vice-president for consumer marketing in Asia Pacific Regina Ng said the Home Affairs Ministry held up the magazines Dec 3 issue last year as well as all of its Feb 2002 issues.
From previous experience, we are aware that KDN (Kementrian Dalam Negeri or Home Affairs Ministry) can take a longer period of time to thoroughly evaluate specific stories before deciding on the release of the magazine.
However, as Time has yet to receive any official notice from KDN, we cannot speculate on the reasons for the present hold up of our issues, said Ng.
Lopsided reporting
Yesterday, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung was reported as saying the magazines were withheld for inaccurate reports with the intention to smear the countrys name .
The US ambassador to Malaysia said her government appreciates Malaysias efforts against terrorism but the magazines seem to indicate a different stand towards Malaysia, he was quoted as saying.
Chor said the Feb 11 Newsweek issue was withheld for lopsided reporting in an article comparing Islam and Christianity.
In an international news agency AFP report today, Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawis press secretary Rohaizad Abdul Rahim denied that the government was clamping down on foreign publications.
Secret deal
Meanwhile, FEER today clarified that its Jan 24 issue was authorised for release on Feb 14 but circulation was limited to 500 copies.
The magazines Hong Kong-based communications officer Nadia Stoyle acknowledged that this was the first time Malaysia capped the circulation.
In an e-mail to malaysiakini she said government officials have also not indicated if circulation of subsequent issues may be limited.
The Jan 24 FEER issue, had government censors nostrils flaring with an article entitled Secret Anwar Deal? in its Intelligence column.
The article claimed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had offered a conciliatory deal to his now jailed ex-deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, during a secret, hour-long, drive outside of Kuala Lumpur.
The same issue of the magazine also incurred the wrath of Thailands premier Thaksin Shinawatra who has vowed to expel the magazines Bangkok correspondents over a report which speculated that tensions were brewing between the premier and the countrys monarchy.
