The Afghan government has shut down the popular state-run newspaper Arman-e-Mili. Chief editor Mutahar said Information and Culture Minister Sayeed Makhdoom Raheen banned the daily because it tried to be more independent of President Hamid Karzai's administration. Arman-e Milli refused repeatedly articles from the ministry of information and culture, especially a couple of articles by the deputy minister.  Arman-e-Mili, meaning the National Will, had more than four thousand subscribers. Mutahar also cited disagreement with Raheen over the editor's membership of a political group. Raheen denied there was any political motivation for the closure, saying one of the five government-run papers had to be shut down because there were too many newspapers. There were 265 dailies, weeklies and other publications in Afghanistan currently, and five of them run by the government - publishing the same photos articles every day. He also foreshadowed privatising at least three of the remaining four state-run publications.