UPDATE 2-Iraq shuts al-Jazeera Baghdad office for a month

Reuters | 7 Aug, 2004 | Reuters

[propertius]

UPDATE 2-Iraq shuts al-Jazeera Baghdad office for a month (Updates with Al Jazeera comment)

BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Iraq's interim government ordered Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite television network to close its Baghdad office for one month on Saturday, a move criticised as unjustifiable by the channel.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, confirming the decision at a news conference, said a commission had been monitoring Al Jazeera for the past four weeks to see whether it was inciting violence and hatred, and that the decision had been taken "to protect the people of Iraq".

"It's regrettable and we believe it's not justifiable," Al Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said. "This latest decision runs contrary to all the promises made by Iraqi authorities concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the press."

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said this week that Arabic satellite channels were encouraging kidnappings by showing images of hostages threatened with executions.

Another government official at the press conference said the station had "encouraged criminals and gangsters" in Iraq.

Al Jazeera's Ballout denied the charge.

"We are not a political organisation that is for or against anybody. We display what happens on the ground as objectively as possible and in a balanced way," he said.

Ballout said the television would continue to cover events in Iraq despite the closure. "I'm not going to say it will be easy, but again a creative journalist will try to get a comprehensive and balanced story out there," he said.

Earlier this week, the station reported a videotaped statement from a militant group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi saying it had released two Turkish drivers because their company agreed to stop working in Iraq.

Scores of hostages from two dozen countries have been seized in the past four months. Most have been freed but at least 10 have been killed, and at least 20 are still being held in Iraq.

Last month, Al Jazeera, accused by the United States of graphic and anti-American conflict coverage, unveiled a code of ethics it said would ensure balanced and sensitive reporting.

Jazeera won over millions of Arab viewers before and during the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan in 2001 after airing exclusive footage of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.

(Additional reporting by Heba Kandil)

[nicmarlo]

Does Goebbels come to mind? .

Al Jazeera isn't a press, it's a propanda machine, no different than Hitler's NAZI tactics. Speaking of which, what the terrorists are doing (evil), what Saddam Hussein has done (you got it, he used propaganda in the guise of "news," too), is little different from what Hitler did.

You must learn to THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX.

For a less scholarly reading, perhaps you may want to read Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night. It, too, depicts the effective use of propaganda in the form of "news."

[nicmarlo]

I think you need to reread what Goebbels did and what his "ministry" was all about, as you seem to be misapplying what the Iraqis government is doing to what he did: "Nazi Propaganda by Joseph Goebbels" http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goebmain.htm

[Dave Elias]

"This was a decision made by Iraqis"

Believe that and you believe in fairies.

[Recovering Hermit]

Believe that and you believe in fairies.

I've seen them...they wear boots.

I agree, but the fact that it is proclaimed by Iraqis is a good thing, whether or not their arms have been twisted behind their backs by us to proclaim it publicly.

[Clorinox]

"Uh, we're not talking about a website. We're talking about THE public relations firm for the Jihadists"

I understand that, but once al-jazeera has been shut down, and there is no television access to the video's of these murders, the only step left for distribution is the internet. And my question remains the same, are you advocating the murder/arrest of anyone who distributes these videos regardless of how they are distributed.

[Hat-Trick]

I understand that, but once al-jazeera has been shut down, and there is no television access to the video's of these murders, the only step left for distribution is the internet.

Ah, but Al-Jazerra hasn't been shut down, completely. They've only had their Iraq operation "suspended" for 30 days. They're still alive and well, promoting the Jihadist agenda from other locations. They'll be back up and running in Iraq before Labor Day.

Regarding Al-Jazerra, again, their facilities should be destroyed, and if anyone evil enough to work for them happens to be vaporized in the process, well, I for one won't shed any tears about that. Broadcasting beheadings doesn't qualify as free speech.

And my question remains the same, are you advocating the murder/arrest of anyone who distributes these videos regardless of how they are distributed.

Beyond Al-Jazerra to the websites, I say it depends on the degree to which we can prove complicity and conspiracy in the beheadings.