["Unidentified Men Raid Headquarters of Al-Istiqlal Newspaper in Gaza, Loot Most of Its Content" - Ma'an headline]

Gaza, 28 September (Ma'an) - Unidentified individuals raided the headquarters of Al-Istiqlal newspaper in Al-Thawrah St. in Gaza and looted most of its contents late Thursday [27 September] night. Senior Al-Istiqlal employees noted that the plunderers broke the office's main door and got in. Tawfiq al-Sayyid Salim, the newspaper's publishing secretary, said that "this criminal attack was carried out by an outlawed salaried party who robbed most of the office's content." Salim estimated the value of the stolen PC's, Macintosh computers, two TV sets, receiver, and fax machine at $15,000. Salim noted that this attack, which is one of many carried out against media and journalists, is a clear violation of the freedom of the press, demanding the relevant parties to start searching for the perpetrators immediately and bring them to justice.

As soon as Al-Istiqlal was established in 1994 in Gaza, the occupation authorities assassinated its editor in chief, martyr Hani Abid. The newspaper was also closed down by the PNA several times.

Source: Ma'an News Agency website, Bethlehem, in Arabic 1243 gmt 28 Sep 07

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