Libya cancels press visa

Libya's new government has made it difficult for foreign journalists to report on post-Gaddafi developments, UK newspaper "The Guardian" has reported. Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) suspended a system which granted reporters entry to the country if they had letter from the NTC's media centre. He complained that the new restrictions were a "nasty" hangover from the Gaddafi era. Writing on a Facebook group for foreign correspondents set up by Bouckaert, the Guardian's Libya stringer Christopher Stephen wrote: "I spoke to the BBC and it is also their understanding that no more press visas will be issued as policy, with some exceptions made. One piece of advice was to come in on a business visa but this seems to me to be a non starter, because as soon as you write a story that meets official disapproval you will be reminded that you came in on a false visa. The NTC press office is closed, more or less permanently." The NTC's deputy head of the media centre acknowledged the problem. In a posting on the group, he wrote: "As all know things here are very slow and with the new gov[ernment] still in limbo it is proving problematic to get anywhere. But I will be persistent. Bouckaert replied: "What would be most useful is for the NTC to send a general instruction to embassies to provide visas for journalists and NGO workers, UN workers, and humanitarians who present their credentials at the embassy. The requirement to get approval from Tripoli is a nasty holdover from the Gaddafi era, and should be gotten rid off. There is no reason to require approval from Tripoli for accredited persons, and it just creates more work for you all. Happy journalists are an asset to the new Libya, and should be welcomed."