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-Caveat Lector-

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * [EMAIL PROTECTED]
___________________________________________________

         12:30 p.m. ET -- Monday, August 9, 2004

         Iraqi Government Crackdown on Al-Jazeera

    Over the weekend Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was selected by the
U.S.-appointed Governing Council, ordered Al-Jazeera's office in Baghdad
closed for one month. According to AP, Iraqi Interior Minister Falah
al-Naqib said the closure was intended to give the station "a chance to
re-adjust their policy against Iraq."

    "They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they
transfer a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals
to increase their activities," al-Naqib said. "We want to protect our people."

    Al-Jazeera aired live footage of Iraqi government officials closing
down the office. [See: <http://english.aljazeera.net>,
<http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9C888134-9481-485A-A675-DD3C50DA224D.htm>]

    The closure of the Al-Jazeera office came the day after Donald Rumsfeld
discussed Al-Jazeera before the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. He
said: "It has been a terribly damaging thing to have what Al-Jazeera and
Al-Arabiyah have done to our country in the Middle East. They have
persuaded an enormous fraction of the people that we're there as an
occupying force, which is a lie, that we are randomly killing innocent
civilians, which is a lie."

JIM NAURECKAS, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.fair.org
    Editor of Extra!, the magazine of the media watch group FAIR, Naureckas
said today: "Citizens need to know both the costs and benefits of military
involvement. With the closure of the Al-Jazeera Baghdad office, it will be
much easier for the Pentagon to conceal the human costs of the occupation.
And wasn't one of the benefits supposed to be that a democratic Iraq would
be an example to other Middle Eastern states? It's impossible to have a
democracy without a free press."

JOEL CAMPAGNA, [EMAIL PROTECTED],
http://www.cpj.org/news/2004/Iraq08aug04na.html
    Campagna is a senior program coordinator for the Middle East and North
Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists. He said today: "The
Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by Iraq's interim
government to ban the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera from working in
Iraq for 30 days.... According to news reports, the interim government
accused the station of incitement to violence and hatred. Iyad Allawi
announced the decision at a Saturday, August 7, press conference, saying
the action was taken to 'protect the people of Iraq and the interests of
Iraq.' The ban was effective immediately. Allawi cited an Iraqi media
commission report about Al-Jazeera's broadcasts as the basis for the
decision. He said the commission 'came up with a concise report on the
issues of incitement and the problems Al-Jazeera has been causing.' To
CPJ's knowledge, the commission's report has not been made public."

    Last week the International Herald Tribune published an oped by
Campagna entitled "Al-Jazeera: Leave It to Viewers." He wrote then: "In
April, Secretary of State Colin Powell described 'intense' and 'candid'
discussions with Qatar's foreign minister about Al-Jazeera's reports, which
he said 'intrude' on the countries' relations. Although Powell stopped
short of urging Qatar to restrict Al-Jazeera's coverage -- as he did in
2001 with Qatar's emir -- the implication was clear. U.S. pressure didn't
stop there. In June, U.S. officials reportedly withheld invitations to
Qatari officials to the G-8 summit in Georgia, in protest of Al-Jazeera.
The accompanying public protests from U.S. officials were not subtle. In
April, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld accused the station of
'consistently lying' and 'working in concert with the terrorists.' To be
sure, there are valid criticisms to be made about Al-Jazeera's biases and,
at times, its sensationalism. But lost in the criticism is that Al-Jazeera
is also a serious news organization whose reporting is regularly cited by
the best news organizations. And for Al-Jazeera, which has built its
reputation on defiantly reporting in the face of official harassment, each
criticism adds to its legend in the region."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 332-5055; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

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DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please!   These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.

Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
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