Two major international press organisations have today written a joint appeal to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad expressing their serious concern at the government's decision not to renew the publishing licence of bimonthly magazine Detik .

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF), which represent more than 17,000 publications in 93 countries, reminded Mahathir "that refusal of a publishing licence on political grounds is a clear breach of the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions".

"We call on you to ensure that Detik's licence to publish is fully restored and that the Printing Press and Publications Act is not used as a mechanism for suppressing critical opinion," wrote WAN president Bengt Braun and WEF president Ruth de Aquino in the joint letter.

"We also urge you to ensure that publishing licences for the magazines Al-Wasilah, Eksklusif and Tamadun , all of which are awaiting decisions, are granted."

Earlier today, an international press watchdog group, New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, had called on other journalist associations to send appeals to Mahathir to lift the ban on the privately-funded magazine.

The Home Ministry on Monday officially notified Detik that its publishing license which had expired in December last year would not be renewed. The ministry did not give any reasons for the banning of the magazine.

Former editor-in-chief Ahmad Lutfi Othman, however, told malaysiakini that a ministry official had informed him by telephone that the magazine was banned because "the original permit was handed over to another party".

Lutfi added that another magazine al-Wasilah , the sister publication of Detik , may also likely lose its publishing permit when it comes up for renewal in August. Detik's ban came in the wake of the drastic reduction in the frequency of another newspaper, PAS organ Harakah .