…As Zimbabwe set to re-open border for citizens returning from S’Africa amid pandemic***
Iraq’s media regulator has rescinded an earlier decision to suspend Reuters’ licence for three months over a report on the number of coronavirus cases in the country, the news agency said on Sunday.
Reuters said it was informed by the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) that the suspension had been lifted.
The CMC told Reuters the move was aimed at allowing “transparent and impartial work by the media … in adherence to operating according to the regulations of media broadcasting rules” set out by the independent body.
“We appreciate the efforts made by the Iraqi authorities and the CMC to promptly resolve the matter,” the agency said in a statement.
A Reuters correspondent confirmed that work had resumed at its Baghdad office.
Iraq authority had on April 15 suspended the licence of the Reuters news agency after it published a story saying the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country was higher than officially reported.
Iraq’s media regulator said it was revoking Reuters’ licence for three months and fining it 25m dinars (21,000 dollars) for what it said was the agency’s violation of the rules of media broadcasting.
CMC said it had taken the action “because this matter is taking place during current circumstances which have serious repercussions on societal health and safety.”
Reuters said it regretted the Iraqi authorities’ decision and that it stood by the story, which it said was based on multiple, well-placed medical and political sources, and fully represented the position of the Iraqi health ministry.
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“We are seeking to resolve the matter and are working to ensure we continue to deliver trusted news about Iraq,” the news agency said in a statement.
In the meantime, Zimbabwe will this week re-open Beitbridge, its major border post with South Africa, to receive more than 3,000 of its citizens who have been residing in the neighbouring country.
Most of the returnees crossed the border illegally into the neighbouring country but have requested to be sent back home in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported on Sunday.
According to the Sunday Mail, they will be received without any conditions attached, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister, Lovemore Matuke, said.
He did not say when exactly during the week the border post, which is currently open to commercial clients only, will be re-opened to other forms of traffic.
But he said all logistics with their South African counterparts were being made to allow even those without the requisite papers to pass through.
“We are going to open the Beitbridge Border Post to allow for the passage of the country’s citizens back into the country.
“We have more than 3,000 who have requested to be sent back home.
“We don’t want them to use illegal channels to come back because we want to account for everyone in the wake of COVID-19,’’ Matuke said.
He said some of them were of no fixed abode and were always running away from law enforcement agents while others were doing odd jobs, which are no longer available because of COVID-19.
South Africa last week extended its lockdown period by two more weeks from the previous three weeks.
Facilities had already been put in place in Beitbridge where the returnees will be isolated and tested for the virus.
Matuke said he would be touring facilities that had been set to host the country’s citizens that had chosen to return home from neighbouring countries.
“Government and its partners will also be providing for them in terms of food and other provisions,’’ he said.
The Zimbabwean Embassy in Namibia has also requested all Zimbabwean nationals, who have been affected by the lockdown and would want to return home, to register their names on Monday and Tuesday.
A notice from the embassy’s Consular Department said those who wanted to travel would go through Zambia where there was a possibility of a 14-day quarantine at the Zambian border before proceeding to Zimbabwe.
“There will also be a mandatory 21-day quarantine upon arrival in Zimbabwe,’’ the notice said.
