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WASHINGTON (AP) - Sharper restrictions on news organizations in Iraq as well as retention of repressive laws from the Saddam Hussein era helped propel the Middle East and North Africa last year to the worst record on press freedom in the world, Freedom House reported Thursday.
For the first time, the new Iraqi government took action against reporters, with at least 30 journalists detained and four of them still held without charge at year's end, the report said.
The government shut down two television stations in November for showing footage of Iraqis protesting former President Saddam Hussein's execution and the interior ministry established a monitoring unit that requests correction of "false news," Freedom House reported.
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