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Publisher held for article linking Benin to US attacks

    COTONOU

    Police arrested the publisher of 'l'Aurore', a Beninese daily, on Saturday and questioned him in connection with an article linking Benin to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States. The journalist, Patrick Adjamonsi, was released four hours later.

    In his article, which appeared in Thursday's issue of the newspaper, Adjamonsi wrote that Osama Bin Laden's network had links in Benin and that US intelligence services were investigating the country. Benin's government held an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss the issue. The ministers condemned the article and asked the Higher Audio-visual and Communication Authority (HAAC - Haute autorité de l'audiovisuelle et de la communication) to take action.

    'L'Aurore' retracted the article on Friday but its editor and a secretary were held for a few hours on Friday night before being released.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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