South Sudan's government has banned Al Jazeera English staff from working in the country, press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday in a statement condemning the move. The government's Media Authority decided on 1 May "to suspend the activities of the Al-Jazeera English bureau in Juba until further notice", the organisation, known by its French acronym RSF, said in a press release condemning the decision and issued on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.

However, Elijah Alier Kuai, managing director of the Media Authority, denied the Qatari state broadcaster had been suspended saying there was simply "an administrative issue" but did not explain what he meant. "Al Jazeera is not closed. It is only the English office where we have an administrative issue that we are discussing with the management of Al Jazeera and we will be resolving it soon," he said. Al Jazeera is one of a handful of international media outlets with bureaus in South Sudan.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017