'''''Al Hawza''''' or '''''al Hauza''''' was an Arabic language weekly newspaper in Iraq.<ref name=bab>{{cite web|title=The new Iraqi press, 2003 |url=http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq/press2003.htm |publisher=Al Bab |access-date=13 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105094445/http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq/press2003.htm |archive-date=5 January 2015 }}</ref>
==History and profile== ''Al Hawza'' started publication in 2003<ref name=bab/> after the removal of Saddam Hussein, and American media considered it to be the mouthpiece for Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr.<ref name=nir>{{cite news|author=Nir Rosen|title=US newspaper ban plays into cleric's hands|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC31Ak01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405184622/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC31Ak01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=5 April 2004|access-date=13 September 2014|work=Asia Times|date=31 March 2004|location=Baghdad}}</ref> It was a weekly newspaper published every Thursday.<ref name=nir/><ref name=rawi/> The paper was a religious cultural publication.<ref name=bab/> Its chairman was Abbas Al Rubayi.<ref name=bab/> Hasan Al Zarkani served as the editor.<ref name=bab/> Ali Yasseri was the editor of the paper when it was suspended.<ref name=bbc/>
It was shut down by the 759th Military Police Battalion, under orders of the United States-led administration of Paul Bremer on 28 March 2004, after being accused of encouraging violence against Coalition troops.<ref name=rawi>{{cite book|author=Ahmed K. Al-Rawi|title=Media Practice in Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nn_h4zdxgGIC&pg=PA83|access-date=13 September 2014|date=7 August 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-27164-8|page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Jeffrey Gettleman|title=G.I.'s Padlock Baghdad Paper Accused of Lies|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A15F935540C7A8EDDAA0894DC404482|access-date=13 September 2014|work=The New York Times|date=29 May 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=David W. Bulla|author2=Justyna Sempruch|title=Lincoln's Censor: Milo Hascall and Freedom of the Press in Civil War Indiana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkd7e5U4z6kC&pg=PA227|access-date=13 September 2014|year=2008|publisher=Purdue University Press|isbn=978-1-55753-473-6|page=227}}</ref> The closure of the weekly was protested by hundreds of Iraqis in Baghdad shortly after the ban.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|title=Iraqi outcry as US bans newspaper|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3578183.stm|access-date=13 September 2014|work=BBC|date=29 March 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Closure of Shiite Newspaper in Baghdad Sparks Protests|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/media-jan-june04-al-hawza_03-29|access-date=13 September 2014|work=PBS|date=29 May 2004}}</ref>
== See also == * ''Al Mustaqilla''
==References== {{Reflist|33em}}
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Category:2003 establishments in Iraq Category:2004 disestablishments in Iraq Category:Newspapers established in 2003 Category:Newspapers disestablished in 2004 Category:Defunct Arabic-language newspapers Category:Defunct newspapers published in Iraq Category:Defunct weekly newspapers