The decision was made because the television channel does not have a license to operate in the Kingdom. Members of the public also complained that Al-Saha was airing poem recitals that attacked various tribes, causing tribal conflicts.

Ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman Al-Haza told local dailies yesterday that the channel’s office was closed down on Tuesday and the case transferred to the ministry’s violations committee.

Al-Haza added that poetry channels were not being exclusively targeted. He said the ministry had only taken action because the channel did not have a license.

Al-Saha previously aired a poem where a poet attacked a tribe, leading to complaints from the tribe’s members. Channel officials publicly apologized and three employees were sacked last year.

The ministry had previously closed down the LBC channel’s offices after a sex braggart appeared on one of its programs last year.