Malaysian newspaper to sue Government

Malaysia's main opposition newspaper is to sue the government over restrictions it says stifle the democratic process.

Harakah, the official newspaper of the Islamic party, the PAS, is challenging a government order which limits publication to two editions a month instead of eight.

The paper's managing editor, Hishamudin Yahya, says the restrictions, imposed in March, are politically motivated and unconstitutional.

In a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, a coalition of opposition parties said the government should be aware that the majority of Malaysian journalists were unhappy with the deteriorating state of press freedom in the country. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has, for the second year running, named the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, as one of the world's ten worst enemies of the press.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service