Six Cambodian newspapers shut down

The Cambodian government has suspended six opposition newspapers, charging them with defamation and endangering national security.

One paper is accused of insulting the co-prime minister, Hun Sen, by calling him a dog; another of having referred to members of the Cambodian parliament as puppets of the Vietnamese government.The move came a day after the government lifted its threat of expulsion against a foreign television journalist accused of unfair reporting.

The information minister Khieu Khanarith denied the latest move was a limitation of press freedom, saying there were almost twenty opposition newspapers and he simply wanted fair reporting in the run-up to elections.

The BBC correspondent in Cambodia says that as political tensions rise ahead of the elections, the press will continue to be one of the first targets in the government's line of fire.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service