The Iraqi government has decided to close the Baghdad offices of the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, the government said Saturday
From Al JazeeraDuring a July 25 interview with Al-Jazeera in Moscow, interim Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari accused the channel of tilted reporting and implied its journalists could be barred from the country.
Zebari described the network’s coverage as “one-sided,” and also condemned the reporting of several other Arab stations.
“We do not tolerate those who exploited the freedom of the media,” Zebari said then. “These channels have become channels for provocation against the interest, security and safety of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government will not be lenient toward such behavior.”
Ballout described the government’s decision as “unwise” and said it restrains both the freedom of the press and “right of the Arab people around the world to see a comprehensive picture about what’s going on in an important region like Iraq.”
Al-Jazeera has occasionally run into problems with authorities in other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and the former Iraqi regime. Unlike Arab state-run media, the station often airs views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries’ rulers.
The development followed reports that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had accused Aljazeera and the other main Arab news channel, Al-Arabiya, of harming the image of the US in the Arab world.
Rumsfeld made the remarks at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Aljazeera said.
Earlier this month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hushyar Zibari criticised Aljazeera, the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya and other Arab and Iranian stations for their coverage of Iraq, and threatened to close their Baghdad offices.
Zibari said Aljazeera, Al-Arabiya, the Lebanese Hizb Allah's Al-Manar television and Iran's Al-Alam were "channels of incitement working against the interests, security and stability of the Iraqi people".
He said, "We will no longer tolerate this in the future."
Aljazeera has frequently been accused by US and Iraqi authorities of inciting violence by screening "exclusive" videotapes from Iraqi resistance and alleged al-Qaida-linked
Is this censorship?Muhammad Bashar al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), has criticised the closure, saying Iraqis are disappointed to learn that they are not experiencing freedom of speech yet.
"It is a disappointing move. Aljazeera is the sincerest channel, although it does not report the whole truth.
"There are a lot of tragedies that have gone unreported. We used to wonder why Aljazeera had not been reporting those facts, and we were annoyed at it, but when we learned about the American pressure on this channel, we understood," said al-Fadhi.
Is it justified (if so give examples of why)?
Are they any worse then the radical right/left news agencies here in America?
Is this Facist?
