Al-Jazeera cuts beheading scene
2004-06-23 14:34
Doha - Al-Jazeera decided to spare its audience the execution scenes from a video tape of the murder of a South Korea translator, the Qatari channel's spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"The editorial management considered, after watching them very closely, it should not put out the scenes of the hostage's murder because they are hurtful for viewers," Jihad Ballut said.
Not necessary
"The story in itself was so important it was not necessary to show picture of the murder."
Ballut said the video tape was first handed to the satellite station's bureau in Baghdad by "unknown people", and then passed on to headquarters in Doha.
Islamic militants beheaded Kim Sun-Il after demanding a halt to Seoul's plan to send three thousand troops to northern Iraq.
The kidnappers identified themselves as members of the Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), a group led by alleged al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, whom Washington blames for a long list of attacks in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Al-Jazeera has frequently been accused by US and Iraqi authorities of inciting violence by screening "exclusive" video tapes from Muslim extremists, including al-Qaeda terror network mastermind Osama bin Laden.