Iraq Bars Jazeera Correspondents from Baghdad
Wed April 2, 2003 06:53 PM ET
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite television said Thursday Iraq had barred two of its correspondents from reporting from Baghdad and that the network was halting the work of all its journalists in Iraq in protest.
The Iraqi government gave no reason for its action against the Arabic-language station, which has been criticized by the United States and Britain for beaming distressing pictures of the war that is intended to oust President Saddam Hussein.
"The Iraqi Information Ministry informed al-Jazeera's office in Baghdad that its correspondent there, Diyar al-Omari, was banned from performing his journalistic work and that its correspondent Tayseer Alouni must leave Iraq as soon as possible without giving any reasons for the decision," Jazeera said.
"Al-Jazeera regrets this surprising and sudden stand which is not justified and has decided, until further notice, to freeze the operations of all its correspondents in Iraq while continuing to transmit live and taped images from its offices in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul," it added.
Jazeera's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Helal, said all the network's correspondents would remain in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq until the Iraqi authorities clarified their decision.
"They cannot dictate to us who can and who cannot work," he told Reuters by telephone.
He said Jazeera had eight correspondents in Iraq -- five in Baghdad, two in the southern city of Basra and one in the northern city of Mosul.
U.S. television network CNN also had reporters expelled from the Iraqi capital last week.
Jazeera says it has at least 35 million viewers in the Arab world and is widely thought to have a big influence in shaping Arab opinion over the U.S. and British invasion.
Jazeera has been criticized as biased by the United States and Britain for airing what they regard as too graphic footage of the invasion of Iraq.
Many Arab viewers regard its war coverage as more balanced than reports by Western media. A Jazeera spokesman said last week the network was catering for no specific side or ideology.
Jazeera has also drawn U.S. ire for its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for broadcasting messages from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, blamed by Washington for the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001
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Wed April 2, 2003 06:53 PM ET
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite television said Thursday Iraq had barred two of its correspondents from reporting from Baghdad and that the network was halting the work of all its journalists in Iraq in protest.
The Iraqi government gave no reason for its action against the Arabic-language station, which has been criticized by the United States and Britain for beaming distressing pictures of the war that is intended to oust President Saddam Hussein.
"The Iraqi Information Ministry informed al-Jazeera's office in Baghdad that its correspondent there, Diyar al-Omari, was banned from performing his journalistic work and that its correspondent Tayseer Alouni must leave Iraq as soon as possible without giving any reasons for the decision," Jazeera said.
"Al-Jazeera regrets this surprising and sudden stand which is not justified and has decided, until further notice, to freeze the operations of all its correspondents in Iraq while continuing to transmit live and taped images from its offices in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul," it added.
Jazeera's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Helal, said all the network's correspondents would remain in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq until the Iraqi authorities clarified their decision.
"They cannot dictate to us who can and who cannot work," he told Reuters by telephone.
He said Jazeera had eight correspondents in Iraq -- five in Baghdad, two in the southern city of Basra and one in the northern city of Mosul.
U.S. television network CNN also had reporters expelled from the Iraqi capital last week.
Jazeera says it has at least 35 million viewers in the Arab world and is widely thought to have a big influence in shaping Arab opinion over the U.S. and British invasion.
Jazeera has been criticized as biased by the United States and Britain for airing what they regard as too graphic footage of the invasion of Iraq.
Many Arab viewers regard its war coverage as more balanced than reports by Western media. A Jazeera spokesman said last week the network was catering for no specific side or ideology.
Jazeera has also drawn U.S. ire for its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for broadcasting messages from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, blamed by Washington for the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001
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