Iconic Arab newspaper al-Hayat closes Lebanon office

Renowned Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat has closed its offices in birthplace Lebanon, as the daily looks to downsize its operations.

The newspaper closed its bureau in the Beirut seven decades after it was founded there, with a source at the paper telling AFP "financial reasons" were behind the move.

"This closure is part of a decision to close all foreign bureaus for financial reasons and transfer the headquarters to Dubai," the source told the agency.

In January, the newspaper closed its head office in London ahead of moving to the Gulf emirate.

Printing presses stopped earlier this month in Beirut, several sources said, leaving the international edition only available online until further notice.

Sources said it could be printed in the Gulf only for readers in that region, they said.

Around 100 people were hired at the Beirut office, around half of them journalists writing for the international edition and a variety magazine.

It is unclear what will happen to these employees.

Lebanese journalist Kamel Mrowa founded the newspaper in 1946 before he was assassinated two decades later.

The newspaper closed its doors in Lebanon for the first time in 1976, a year after Lebanon's 15-year civil war broke out.

It reopened in London in 1988, and was bought up two years later by Saudi Prince Khaled bin Sultan.

Traditionally liberal, al-Hayat has published opinions pieces by some of the Arab world's greatest intellectuals.

The press in Lebanon has been in crisis for several years, both as it struggles to adapt to the digital era and faces economic difficulties.

In late 2016, Lebanese newspaper As-Safir closed after 42 years in print, after the daily ran out of funds.