A court has ordered the publisher of Lebanon's only English-language daily, The Daily Star, to close the paper because of financial problems, The Associated Press reported Friday.

The paper's Beirut offices were "shut and sealed" less than two hours after the court gave the order, on Jan. 14, said the paper's publisher, Jamil Mroue.

The paper owes a Lebanese bank about US$700,000, and Mroue said he is looking for investors and will appeal the court's decision, according to the AP article, posted by the International Herald Tribune.

Until 2006, The Daily Star was distributed throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times reported. However, business for independent papers in the region has become difficult, as most papers "depend on generous contributions from wealthy political figures or parties. Others are owned by political groups or government agencies and reflect their benefactors' views."