KABUL, December 18, Asia-Plus – Kabul Weekly, private, English- and Dari-pages, has not been published for three weeks.
The newspaper editor Fahim Dashti last week said in interview with Asia-Plus’ correspondent that his paper has not been published for financial reasons.
Founded by Ahmad Shah Masoud in 1993, Kabul Weekly is one of most popular newspapers in Afghanistan, according to him. It was suspended from publication in 1996, during the Taliban rule, and it returned to publication in Kabul in 2002 after the Taliban deserted the capital.
According to Fahim Dashti, Kabul Weekly had been regularly published in English and Dari and had a circulation of a 9,000 copies. “The paper had been distributed to all regions in the country,” said Kabul Weekly editor, “Financial problems have arisen because of low level of literacy in the country; the majority of Afghans prefer electronic media such as radio and TV to newspapers.”
“Besides, the Afghan government and international collation forces have not liked Kabul Weekly for critical materials about them and therefore we have not got support from them,” Fahim Dashti said, adding that recently, one of international organizations agreed to support the paper. “We are currently preparing business-project for resuming the newspaper’s activity in the near future,” the Kabul Weekly editor said.
