The main Arabic daily in South Sudan aims to resume daily printing for the first time since the outbreak of the crisis in Juba on 15 December.
Al Masier, which means ‘Destiny’ in Arabic, appeared at newsstands only three times before Saturday. The paper now aims to resume operations with a daily print run of 3,000.
South Sudan has few facilities for printing of newspapers. The Indian company that provided printing services to Al Masier evacuated its personnel from the country soon after the killing of two Indian UN soldiers in Akobo.
Until the printers return, Al Masier must arrange for the printing of the paper in Khartoum and transportation via airplane. At this point it is uncertain whether daily flights to Khartoum will continue, but the paper expects the Juba print company to return soon.
Al Masier newspaper was generally considered pro-SPLM and pro-government, though in early December it disputed orders from the information minister and threatened to shut down rather than comply with his directives.
At issue was whether the government had legal powers to register and screen journalists working at independent media.
In another development, staff at the paper were surprised to learn just days ago that their founder and shareholder Dhieu Mathok defected to the side of Riek Machar.
Mathok, who served also as chairman of the National Employees Justice Chamber, disappeared during the recent events in Juba, and he is now confirmed to be in Addis Ababa where talks peace talks are ongoing since yesterday.
South Sudan media threaten blackout starting Saturday (4 Dec.)