Iraqi ousting of Arab TV channel sparks freedom fears

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1092769,00.html

Groups campaigning for a free media have called on the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council to reverse its decision to throw Arab news channel al-Arabiya out of the country.

Iraqi police officers raided al-Arabiya's Baghdad offices yesterday and seized equipment, after Council president Jalal Talabani announced that the Dubai-based news channel's operation in the capital was being closed down because it broadcast an audio tape on November 16 purporting to be the voice of Saddam Hussein.

Mr Talabani accused al-Arabiya of "incitement to murder" for playing the tape, which urged Iraqis to fight foreign soldiers as a patriotic duty.

Al-Arabiya's Baghdad bureau chief, Wahad Yacoub, signed a statement agreeing not to broadcast from Iraq until the dispute with the interim government was resolved.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders called on the Council to overturn its ban on al-Arabiya and condemned the Iraqi government's use of police to close the network's Baghdad office.

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[izzie]

1. Kill the messager has always worked??

I am not so sure of that, plus I read they have dish TV so they will just pick it up from out side. Smart move. People who did not watch that station will now be sure to do it.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. Another Headline: US Style Free Speech: TV network shut down in Iraq

http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=8739&TagID=2

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 24 — One of the Middle East’s biggest television news networks agreed Monday to halt reports from Iraq after the U.S.-appointed government raided its offices, banned its broadcasts and threatened to imprison journalists. The government accused Al-Arabiya of “inciting murder” for broadcasting an audio tape a week ago of a voice it said belonged to Saddam Hussein.

“WE HAVE issued a warning to Al-Arabiya and we will sue,” said Jalal Talabani, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council. “Al-Arabiya incites murder because it’s calling for killings through the voice of Saddam Hussein. ... Inciting murder or violence is illegal under the laws of the entire world.”
He said Al-Arabiya would be banned from working in Iraq for “a certain time,” which he didn’t specify.
At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States agreed with the Governing Council’s assessment that Al-Arabiya was inciting violence. Some of the network’s broadcasts were unhelpful, Boucher said, and the council “had to deal with it.”
Outside the station, Al-Arabiya’s chief Baghdad editor, Wahhad Yacoub, said it would cease broadcasting reports from Iraq until the matter could be resolved, although he said the station would continue to report on Iraq from its headquarters in the city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirites.
Earlier Monday, about 20 Iraqi police officers raided Al-Arabiya’s offices in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood, making lists of equipment to be seized if it did not comply with the order, said station correspondent Ali al-Khatib, reporting live from the Iraqi capital.
The officers also raided the Middle East Broadcasting Center, a mostly entertainment network that shares offices with Al-Arabiya and is owned by the same Saudi company.
The correspondent said the officers told employees they were banned from broadcasting any reports from Iraq, and that they would be fined $1,000 and imprisoned for a year for each violation.
He also said the police carried an order from the Governing Council and told Al-Arabiya the council might reconsider its decision if the news channel writes a letter pledging never to encourage terrorism.

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[Paschall]

5. Not true

"Inciting murder or violence is illegal under the laws of the entire world..."

It's tolerated in the United States if the targets are Democrats, abortion providers, gays, Muslims, Bill Clinton, members of the "liberal media," etc., etc., etc.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. They were pissed that there wasn't enough Michael Jackson coverage.

[truthspeaker]

3. remember:

they hate us for our freedom

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. Really. Here's the RW take on it:

Iraq's Governing Council Cracking Down on Media
By Bobby Eberle
Talon News
November 25, 2003

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- In an effort to stem the ongoing attacks in Iraq, the Iraqi Governing Council is stepping up its scrutiny of local media outlets to ensure that inflammatory remarks that may be used to incite aggressive action against American and coalition forces do not get spread to the population.

Speaking with reporters, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that the IGC is trying to work with the news media represented in Baghdad to "avoid a situation where these media are used as a channel for incitement, for inflammatory statements, and for statements and actions that harm the security of people who live and work in Baghdad, including the Iraqi citizens themselves."

The statement arose after Boucher was questioned regarding the Al-Arabiyya studios in Baghdad. A reporter claimed that the IGC has raided or was planning to raid the facilities.

"I think you'll see from the Governing Council's perspective, they've tried to work with Al-Arabiyya and other broadcasters," Boucher said. "But at this point, they felt that they needed to stop the activity there for the moment, and they'll be dealing with that as they need to. So I'd really leave that in their hands."

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http://www.gopusa.com/news/2003/november/1125_iraq.shtml

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