"Targeting al-Jazeera satellite..."
Posted on 04/12/2004 10:12:36 AM PDT by Eurotwit
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s U.S.-appointed national security adviser accused Arabic-language satellite TV channels of gross inaccuracy in their coverage of Iraq and said on Monday they would be shut down if they did not change their line.
Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, formerly a member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council, said Qatar-based Al Jazeera and Dubai-based Al Arabiya were anti-American in their coverage and ran the risk of inciting sectarian violence.
"There is no doubt in my mind that if they continue reporting in the way they are reporting now...there is no question that they should be shut down in this country," Rubaie, a medical doctor-turned-politician told a news conference.
Rubaie has closely associated himself with U.S. authorities running Iraq and was appointed national security adviser for a five-year term last week. He said he fully supported press freedom, but he also wanted certain criteria to be respected.
"If you had CNN inciting violence on air, God forbid, would that be acceptable?" he said. "Some of these channels are inciting violence, inciting sectarian violence, that is what they are doing."
He issued a challenge to the Arabic media operating in Iraq, saying they should learn to respect international standards of objectivity and balance.
"If they want to continue working in Iraq they have to stick to the regulations and report the facts as they are... If they do not stick to the regulations, they will feel sorry," he said.
The stations, which are widely watched in Iraq and throughout the Arab world, have repeatedly denied accusations of inciting violence and say their reports are fair and accurate.
Paul Bremer, the U.S.-appointed governor of Iraq, issued a directive last year saying that news media operations could be shut down if they were found to be inciting violence or of involvement in similar activities.
Last month, Bremer ordered Al Hawza, a weekly Baghdad newspaper loyal to firebrand anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to be shut down, accusing it of inciting violence.
Arabiya and Jazeera have each already been sanctioned by the Governing Council. Arabiya's operations in Baghdad were shut down for two months last year after the channel ran an audio tape purportedly from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) while he was on the run.
Jazeera was banned from covering Governing Council meetings and press conferences for a month over remarks made during a phone-in program that were deemed to be insulting.
U.S. civilian and military authorities in Iraq have stepped a war of words against Arabiya, Jazeera and some other Arabic media outlets in recent days, with Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, a senior military spokesman, on Monday referring to them simply as the "anti-coalition media."
What are we waiting for?
In America, the media can do anything they want, and screech "Free Speech, Free Speech!!!" They are already encouraging our enemies.
I wish I could answer no.
"Targeting al-Jazeera satellite..."
Among others...
Giving Aid & Comfort.
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