Reuters is reporting that Bahrain has suspended local operations of Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera. Without giving details, the official Bahrain News Agency has banned an Al Jazeera TV crew from travelling to Bahrain for “breaching the professional media norms and flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing.”
Al Jazeera recently aired programs on poverty and the treatment of Asian laborers in Bahrain , both sensitive matters for the government there.
Spokesmen for both the Bahrain News Agency and Al Jazeera TV are declining comment. Observers say the move, while likely sparked by the Al Jazeera report, may also reflect tensions between Qatar and Bahrain that have persisted since the two countries settled a dispute over the Hawar islands in 2001.