Geneva, Mar 27 : The World Health Organisation (WHO) imposed a sanction on the Associated Press on Wednesday for an embargo breach.

The sanction is being imposed because an AP story about polio in Somalia ran several hours before the embargo was to be lifted on Tuesday.

An investigation by the AP, reported to the WHO, indicates that this was an error in processing the distribution of the story in the US. This was clearly an accident. But accidents have consequences, both to reporters preparing their own stories and to the embargo system.

The sanction for AP is the same as it has been for others -- a two-week suspension from the distribution list.

"We are developing guidelines to make ensure consistency across the organization about the appropriate use of embargoes," the WHO statement said.