ABIDJAN
BBC radio and Radio France International (RFI) were taken off air in Ivory Coast on Wednesday, with both stations' FM bands producing nothing but fuzz.
The BBC said on its website that the government of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo had denied taking any action against the stations and that it did not know why its broadcasts had stopped.
Gbagbo and his supporters have been hostile to the foreign media since it reported the victory of his opponent Alassane Ouattara in an election last November, a result he has refused to accept.
The authorities cut RFI, BBC and news channel France24 in December, although all were later put back on air.
Foreign journalists have been intimidated by pro-Gbagbo forces and sometimes attacked by his youth supporters, inspired by messages on state TV accusing them of destablising the nation.
Nine local newspapers that either support Ouattara or are independent have shut this week in protest at threats and harassment by Gbagbo's camp.
"It is becoming unbearably dangerous for media outlets and their journalists to operate in Ivory Coast as both Gbagbo and Ouattara camps exact reprisals on their critics in the press," Mohamed Keita from the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We call on both sides to refrain from targeting the press or using politically motivated censorship."
Two reporters from the rebel-held north have been detained by pro-Gbagbo security forces in Abidjan since late January.
Reuters
