Afghanistan orders New York Times reporter to leave over 'coup' article --- A New York Times reporter has been given a 24-hour deportation notice for writing an article about senior Afghan officials planning to form an interim government. -- Matthew Rosenberg, 40, was initially asked to visit the attorney general’s office on Tuesday to discuss his article about powerful officials “threatening to seize power” if the current electoral gridlock continued. He was asked to reveal the identities of his unnamed sources, a request the reporter refused. -- Rosenberg asked to leave the office, and was temporarily barred from doing so. He was eventually let go, but later learned from a TV report that he was under a travel ban. -- The situation escalated on Wednesday when, citing lack of cooperation in investigating his article, the attorney general’s office issued a deportation notice to Rosenberg, giving him 24 hours to leave the country. “[The attorney general’s office] found the article ‘Amid Election Impasse Calls in Afghanistan for an Interim Government’ was his own perspective pretending to have quoted from Afghan high ranking authorities,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement. -- “[The attorney general’s office] believes this article is causing dispersion and is against the national security and the stability of Afghanistan.” It further stated that Rosenberg would not be allowed back into the country upon his departure. -- The article stated that the continuing electoral stasis had propelled influential government figures to consider imposing a new government, which they hoped would spur the two rival presidential candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, into a compromise. It further said that the officials interviewed were considering a coup to execute one, but to use the threat of such to bring stability. -- The article stated that the continuing electoral stasis had propelled influential government figures to consider imposing a new government, which they hoped would spur the two rival presidential candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, into a compromise. It further said that the officials interviewed were considering a coup to execute one, but to use the threat of such to bring stability. -- The New York Times stated that the latest altercation marked the fourth time in 2014 that the Afghan government had complained over its coverage. - More, May Jeong in Kabul, Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/afghanistan-deport-new-york-times-reporter-article