TUNIS, Tunisia: Tunisia's Justice Ministry says three journalists have been arrested for violating public morals.

Ministry spokesman Chukri Nafti said Wednesday the prosecutor of the republic ordered the detention of Attounisia newspaper's publisher, Nasreddine Ben Said, the editor in chief, Hbib Guizani, and the editor of the world section, Hedi Hidhri, pending the investigation. They were charged with an assault on public morality.

The daily printed a photograph of German-Tunisian football player Sami Khedira posed suggestively with a naked woman.

Journalists at the paper said they have also received phone calls threatening to burn the premises down. The building is now guarded by police. Though not as conservative as its neighbors, it is an unusual move for a paper to run such a photo in Tunisia.