Iraqi government criticises TV stations

In a rare move, the Iraqi government criticised the state-run television network today for “whipping up emotions” by airing footage from the bombings at a Baghdad bus station and accused a leading Arab satellite station of airing false reports.

Criticism of the satellite station Al-Jazeera is not unusual but such comments against Iraq’s television network Iraqiya are rare, especially since its news reporting follows the government line.

What angered the government was the repeated airing of footage by Iraqiya of the scene from yesterday’s horrific triple bombing at a Baghdad bus station and nearby hospital which killed up to 43 people.

The station also repeatedly broadcast interviews with witnesses and relatives and of the victims. The bus station was used for travel to predominantly Shiite area of southern Iraq. Insurgents have in the past attacked members of the Shiite sect, bombing mosques and shrines.

Government spokesman Laith Kubba said Iraqiya’s coverage amounted to “whipping up emotions with no clear direction.”

“Journalists should not behave randomly and without incitement,” Kubba said. “What will images of pools of blood or families suffering from the loss of a beloved one prove?”

An official of Iraqiya said he sympathised with Kubba’s observations but believed the station had a duty to show the suffering of the Iraqi people.

“I can understand the man’s point of view if he is speaking from a humanitarian view,” said Abdul-Karim Hammad, the head of the news department. “All we did was show the truth. This was a bloody explosion and I wanted to take the people’s point of view. What station will show the suffering of the Iraqi people other than Iraqiya,” he added.

Kubba took offence at Al-Jazeera quoting a man as saying that the explosion took place near the Interior Ministry, located about a mile away from the station.

“I took two examples. One to the far left and one to the far right,” Kubba told reporters speaking about the two stations.

He said Al-Jazeera was trying to show that the target was the Interior Ministry and not innocent people at a bus station and hospital, while Iraqiya’s intensive reporting could incite some of the Iraqi people.

An Al-Jazeera spokesman in Doha said he was unaware of Kubba’s comments.

Last year, then interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi convened an independent commission to monitor Al-Jazeera’s daily coverage “to see what kind of violence they are advocating.”

The station had drawn government wrath for airing tapes from insurgents. Some of the tapes from the al Qaida wing in Iraq featured the gruesome beheadings of foreign hostages.

Since then, the station was not given permission to open its office but Kubba said today they were being contacted by Al-Jazeera asking for the reopening of their office.

“They are approaching us constantly and we are saying violations or errors like this are not taken lightly,” Kubba said. “They claimed that the bomb went off near the Ministry of Interior and it just was false.”

He said the government does not want to control the media.

“It’s fair you criticise the government,” Kubba said. “It’s fair you shed light but you don’t whip up the public. You don’t repeat the same scene over and over again to mobilise public opinion in a very raw way.”