Lebanese government closes state TV

The Lebanese government is to dismiss all five-hundred employees of the state television station which is to be closed for eleven weeks in an attempt to cut costs.

It's not clear whether some staff will be rehired when the station resumes broadcasting at the end of May.

The Information minister Ghazi al-Aridi said the temporary closure was the only option available to a government determined to stop waste.

Correspondents say the restructuring is the first attempt to cut the country's huge bureaucracy which consumes almost half of government expenditure.

The government is also pursuing plans to privatise the state electricity company.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service