''Al Bayrak'' (; ''The Flag'') was an Arabic language newspaper published in Beirut, Lebanon. It was one of the leading and oldest Arabic papers in the country. After being published for a century the paper closed in August 2011.

History

''Al Bayrak'' was founded in 1911. Its founder was the Lebanese poet Said Akl. The publisher was Dar Alf Leila Wa Leila publishing house which owned a number of daily and weekly publications in Lebanon and in Europe, including ''

Al Hawadeth ''Al Hawadeth'' (Arabic: الحوادث; ''The Events'') was a weekly news magazine which was published in Beirut, Lebanon, in the period 1911–2014 with some interruptions. The magazine is known for its publishers and editors: Salim Lawzi who w ...

'', '' Monday Morning'' and ''

La Revue du Liban ''La Revue du Liban'' (full title: ''La Revue du Liban et de l'Orient Arabe'') was a long-running French-language weekly magazine published in Beirut, Lebanon. It existed between 1928 and 2011. History and profile The magazine was founded in 192 ...

''. The company was headed by Melhem Karam. In the 1990s Melhem Karam was the editor and Said Nassereddine the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the daily. Then Karam who was also the president of Lebanese Journalists Association served as the editor-in-chief. The daily was disestablished in August 2011 due to financial problems.

Influence and political orientation

In 2009, the IREX, an international research board, cited the daily as one of the major eleven papers published in Lebanon. At the initial phase of the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

in 1975 it had a pro-government stance. In the early 1980s the western media described the daily as conservative. It was one of the newspapers which advocated the

March 14 alliance The March 14 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 14 آذار, taḥāluf 14 adhār}), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their anti-Syrian stance ...

in 2009.

Content

In 1999, ''Al Bayrak'' published an interview with Robert Hatem, who was the author of ''From Israel to Damascus'' banned in Lebanon. Due to the publication of the interview the Beirut Appeals Court prosecuted Melhem Karam and Said Nassereddine, who were editor and editor-in-chief of the paper, respectively. Following the assassination of Lebanese journalist and lawmaker

Gebran Tueni Gebran Ghassan Tueni ( ar, جبران تويني; 15 September 1957 – 12 December 2005) was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of daily paper ''An Nahar'', established by his grandfather, also named Gebran Tueni, i ...

in December 2005, the headline of the daily was "Enough...".

Bans and attacks

The daily was banned by

Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a Mar ...

, then interim prime minister and army commander, on 19 January 1990 due to its clash with Aoun's policies. In the immediate aftermath of the ban a reporter working for the daily, George Hajj, was abducted in Beirut and was freed eight hours later. Aoun was accused of the abduction.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayrak 1911 establishments in Ottoman Syria 21st century in Beirut 20th century in Beirut 2011 disestablishments in Lebanon Arabic-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in Lebanon Defunct newspapers published in Lebanon Newspapers established in 1911 Newspapers published in Beirut Publications disestablished in 2011