Iraq orders temporary closure of TV station

The Iraqi government has closed the Iraqi offices of Al-Jazeera for 30 days, accusing the pan-Arab television station of inciting violence.

“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,” Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said.

Al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said the station was not given a reason for the closure.

“It is a regrettable decision, but Al-Jazeera will endeavour to cover the situation in Iraq as best as we can within the constraints,” he said.

Government ministers have grown increasingly critical of the television station in recent weeks.

Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said the government had convened an independent commission a month ago to monitor Al-Jazeera’s daily coverage “to see what kind of violence they are advocating, inciting hatred and problems and racial tension.”

Based on the commission’s finding, the National Security Committee ordered the month-long closure, Allawi said.

The closure was intended to give the station “a chance to re-adjust their policy against Iraq,” al-Naqib said.

Previously, Iraqi officials have complained that the station was one-sided. They have also been critical of other Arab-language television stations.

Ballout described the Iraqi government’s decision as “unwise” and said it restrains both the freedom of the press and “right of the Arab people around the world to see a comprehensive picture about what’s going on in an important region like Iraq.”

The station has run into trouble before in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year.

The Iraqi Governing Council, in place during the US occupation, banned the station’s reporters from entering its offices or covering its new conferences for a month in January because it had reportedly shown disrespect towards prominent Iraqis.

That was the second such ban imposed by the Governing Council on the station.

Al-Jazeera has occasionally run into problems with authorities in other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and the former Iraqi regime.

Unlike Arab state-run media, the station often airs views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries’ rulers.

The network has often been criticised for its coverage of the war on Iraq by a number of senior US officials, accusing it of being an outlet for the al Qaida terror network, broadcasting videotapes and audiotapes purportedly from Osama bin Laden or his aides.

Al-Jazeera denied the allegations.