Arabiya ban spotlights Iraq's tense media relations
BAGHDAD -- A month-long ban imposed by Iraq's government on Dubai-based satellite channel Al Arabiya highlights the delicate path that media in Iraq must tread between dangerous insurgents and prickly authorities.
More than 100 journalists have been killed in Iraq in the past three years while others have been imprisoned by the US-led coalition, and Iraqi officials have had a difficult relationship with the country's fledgling media.
On Thursday the Iraqi cabinet announced the month-long closure of Arabiya's offices in Baghdad. The network can still broadcast to Iraqi subscribers, but their reporters have been banned from working in the country.
"This ban is regrettable as Iraqis above all need access to freely reported news," the press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said.
At Arabiya's offices the door to the studio is closed, its handle sealed in red wax by police and secured with an elasticated bandage.
On the door is a picture of Atwar Bahjat, an Iraqi Arabiya journalist who was kidnapped as she reported on the destruction of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February before being tortured and killed.
"The journalists in Iraq are the most targeted in the world, why?" asked Arabiya correspondent Majid Hamid, outside the studio door.
"There is an elected Iraqi government, insurgent groups, political parties, how can you satisfy everyone?" he complained.
Hamid said that he and his colleagues had been holding an editorial meeting September 7 when they learned from state television that their office had been closed for a month. They ignored the message and continued working.
A few hours later, police came with a statement alleging "distortions of facts and inaccuracies" in Arabiya's coverage and stating that there was "clear intention of your channel to provoke sectarian tensions and promote violence.
"This should be considered as a final warning in hopes that your previous behavior will be corrected," concluded the statement, signed by cabinet secretary Farhad Nematullah.
A spokesman for the Dubai-based channel insisted that "coverage by Al Arabiya is professional, balanced, and based on the level of importance of the information."
Read the rest at the Middle East Times
More than 100 journalists have been killed in Iraq in the past three years while others have been imprisoned by the US-led coalition, and Iraqi officials have had a difficult relationship with the country's fledgling media.
On Thursday the Iraqi cabinet announced the month-long closure of Arabiya's offices in Baghdad. The network can still broadcast to Iraqi subscribers, but their reporters have been banned from working in the country.
"This ban is regrettable as Iraqis above all need access to freely reported news," the press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said.
At Arabiya's offices the door to the studio is closed, its handle sealed in red wax by police and secured with an elasticated bandage.
On the door is a picture of Atwar Bahjat, an Iraqi Arabiya journalist who was kidnapped as she reported on the destruction of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February before being tortured and killed.
"The journalists in Iraq are the most targeted in the world, why?" asked Arabiya correspondent Majid Hamid, outside the studio door.
"There is an elected Iraqi government, insurgent groups, political parties, how can you satisfy everyone?" he complained.
Hamid said that he and his colleagues had been holding an editorial meeting September 7 when they learned from state television that their office had been closed for a month. They ignored the message and continued working.
A few hours later, police came with a statement alleging "distortions of facts and inaccuracies" in Arabiya's coverage and stating that there was "clear intention of your channel to provoke sectarian tensions and promote violence.
"This should be considered as a final warning in hopes that your previous behavior will be corrected," concluded the statement, signed by cabinet secretary Farhad Nematullah.
A spokesman for the Dubai-based channel insisted that "coverage by Al Arabiya is professional, balanced, and based on the level of importance of the information."
Read the rest at the Middle East Times
posted by iraqnam at 10:46 PM
<< Home