Al Hawza
Al Hawza or al Hauza was an Arabic language weekly newspaper in Iraq.{{cite web|title=The new Iraqi press, 2003 |url=http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq/press2003.htm |publisher=Al Bab |access-date=13 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105094445/http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq/press2003.htm |archive-date=5 January 2015 }}
History and profile
Al Hawza started publication in 2003 after the removal of Saddam Hussein, and American media considered it to be the mouthpiece for Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr.{{cite news|author=Nir Rosen|title=US newspaper ban plays into cleric's hands|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC31Ak01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405184622/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC31Ak01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=5 April 2004|access-date=13 September 2014|work=Asia Times|date=31 March 2004|location=Baghdad}} It was a weekly newspaper published every Thursday. The paper was a religious cultural publication. Its chairman was Abbas Al Rubayi. Hasan Al Zarkani served as the editor. Ali Yasseri was the editor of the paper when it was suspended.
It was shut down by the 759th Military Police Battalion, under orders of the United States-led administration of Paul Bremer on 28 March 2004, after being accused of encouraging violence against Coalition troops.{{cite book|author=Ahmed K. Al-Rawi|title=Media Practice in Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nn_h4zdxgGIC&pg=PA83|access-date=13 September 2014|date=7 August 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-27164-8|page=83}}{{cite news|author1=Jeffrey Gettleman|title=G.I.'s Padlock Baghdad Paper Accused of Lies|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A15F935540C7A8EDDAA0894DC404482|access-date=13 September 2014|work=The New York Times|date=29 May 2004}}{{cite book|author1=David W. Bulla|author2=Justyna Sempruch|title=Lincoln's Censor: Milo Hascall and Freedom of the Press in Civil War Indiana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkd7e5U4z6kC&pg=PA227|access-date=13 September 2014|year=2008|publisher=Purdue University Press|isbn=978-1-55753-473-6|page=227}} The closure of the weekly was protested by hundreds of Iraqis in Baghdad shortly after the ban.{{cite news|title=Iraqi outcry as US bans newspaper|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3578183.stm|access-date=13 September 2014|work=BBC|date=29 March 2004}}{{cite news|title=Closure of Shiite Newspaper in Baghdad Sparks Protests|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/media-jan-june04-al-hawza_03-29|access-date=13 September 2014|work=PBS|date=29 May 2004}}