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September, 2004
Aljazeera Vows to Cover Iraq Despite Closure
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Saturday 07 August 2004, 21:39 Makka Time, 18:39 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9C888134-9481-485A-A675-DD3C50DA224D.htm
Aljazeera has vowed to continue its Iraq coverage despite the
one-month closure of its Baghdad office announced by the Iraqi interim
government on Saturday.
In a statement Aljazeera expressed regret for the
unjustified move, and said it was contrary to pledges made by the Iraqi
Government to start a new era of free speech and openness.
Aljazeera made it clear in the statement they hold the Iraqi
authorities responsible for the safety of Aljazeera staff in Baghdad and
elsewhere in Iraq.
Aljazeera's Baghdad office staff said the decision to close the
office had been expected for some time.
They said they had been facing difficulties covering the news from
Baghdad and that Iraqi officials had been reacting negatively to requests
submitted by the channel.
Change the Policy?
Iraqi police officers arrived in the early evening at the
Aljazeera office in Baghdad to implement the closure decision without providing
a legal document from an Iraqi court.
They carried an order from the interior ministry addressed
"to whom it may concern", ordering the closure of the office.
Aljazeera lawyers in Baghdad said police officers did not carry an
order from an Iraqi court as Iraqi law requires in such a case.
Lawyers said they were given a document stating Aljazeera has to
promise to change its policy in terms of covering Iraq, if they want the office
to be re-opened after the one-month punishment.
Aljazeera lawyers in Baghdad refused to sign the document.
Under Scrutiny
While Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib announced the closure
at a Baghdad news conference after an order from the national security
committee, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said, "We asked an independent
committee to monitor Aljazeera for the last four weeks ... to see what kind of
violence they are advocating, inciting hatred and problems and racial
tensions,"
"This is a decision taken by the national security committee
to protect the people of Iraq, in the interests of the Iraqi people," he
said.
Channels Criticised
The development followed reports that US Defense 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 groups.
Reactions
Muhammad Bashar al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Association of
Muslim Scholars (AMS), has criticized 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.
Saaid al-Burini, a candidate for the US Congress, said the US did not want an Arab source of news.
"The US is not happy with the idea that an Arab media
organizations is on the ground and reporting independently," he said.