Iraq clamps down on press
2004-08-07 13:39
Baghdad - The Iraqi government has decided to close the Baghdad offices of the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera for 30 days, the government said Saturday.
There was no immediate comment from Al-Jazeera, which first announced the news. Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's spokesperson Georges Sada confirmed the one-month closure.
Government ministers have recently been critical of the television station.
During a July 25 interview with Al-Jazeera in Moscow, interim Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari accused the channel of tilted reporting and implied its journalists could be barred from the country.
Zebari described the network's coverage as "one-sided," and also condemned the reporting of several other Arab stations.
- AP