Guangming Daily has been suspended for two weeks for publishing a photo depicting caricatures on Prophet Mohammad which Muslims considered blasphemous.

A Sin Chew Media Corporation spokesperson, who did not want to be named, told malaysiakini that the newspaper has received a letter on the suspension from the Internal Security Ministry this evening.

According to the letter, the two-week suspension will begin from Thursday and will last until March 1. However, the source from Sin Chew Media Corporation was unable to provide more details on the suspension.

Sin Chew Media Corporation is the publisher of Guangming Daily and Sin Chew Daily . The company is owned by Sarawak-based timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King.

Evening edition affected

The suspension will only affect the evening edition of Guangming , which had published a photo on Feb 3 showing a reader with a foreign newspaper containing the offending cartoons.

However, the newspaper, on realising its mistake, managed to retrieve most of its newspapers soon after it hit the streets. It is believed that only a small number of newspaper - around a few hundreds copies - had been sold to the public.

But that did not stop the Internal Security Ministry from issuing the suspension order.

Top editors from the newspaper were summoned to meet the ministry's officials yesterday, after receiving a show-cause letter last Friday.

Guangming is the second newspaper to be punished by the government for the reproduction of the cartoons.

Last week, the Sarawak Tribune was slapped with an indefinite suspension for publishing the caricatures which have since been banned in Malaysia.

The caricatures, first published in a Danish newspaper last September, have ignited worldwide protests and condemnation.

Ranked No 3

Guangming has two editions - a northern and central edition. The northern edition, which focuses on news in northern Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis, is managed by an editorial team based in Penang.

The central edition, which is distributed to readers in the Klang valley and the southern region, is produced by another editorial team based in Kuala Lumpur.

Guangming has the third highest circulation among the five major Chinese language dailies. Its sister newspaper, Sin Chew , is the top-selling newspaper.

China Press , which had to terminated two top editors last month after an erroneous report on the Squatgate scandal - and was almost slapped with a suspension by the Internal Security Ministry - has the second highest circulation.