Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An international rights group is asking the United Arab Emirates to allow a Jordanian journalist believed to be held incommunicado by the country's security forces to contact a lawyer and his family.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement Friday also asking authorities to disclose where Tayseer al-Najjar is being held. The group says al-Najjar was summoned by police authorities in Abu Dhabi and disappeared after reporting to them on Dec. 13. It says he was previously blocked from traveling to Jordan.
The group says it has no idea why al-Najjar, a 42-year-old culture reporter for the Emirati newspaper Dar, was being held.
Emirati officials could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, the start of the country's weekend.
Activists believe Emirati security forces, long suspicious of Islamists, also hold others.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
