Former BBC correspondent said to be behind the closure of Al-Arabiya TV in Baghdad

 Analysis

International media bodies throughout the world and in Iraq itself have condemned the Iraqi government decision to close the offices of Arabic satellite TV news channel, Al-Arabiya, in Baghdad for one month, describing the ban as an assault on freedom of the press. Al Arabia was accused of inciting sectarianism and promoting violence.

CPJ, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned the action taken against Al Arabia and noted that the Iraqi government also continues to enforce a two-year-old ban on the Qatar-based Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera.

"The arbitrary closure of Al-Arabiya's Baghdad bureau flies in the face of the Iraqi government's promise to uphold freedom of the press," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "In a democracy, police do not walk into a television station and stop broadcasts without warning or explanation."

Former Spokesman of the Iraqi Governing Council, Mr. Hamid Alkifaey, also condemned the closure saying it contravened the basic principles of free press which the Iraqi government is committed to by law. Alkifaey, a career journalist and broadcaster, and a former BBC journalist, who ran the government media in the first post-Saddam government, said that the Iraqi government should not interfere in the affairs of the media, nor determine how they should run their business. Rather, they should provide logistical support and security information to media personnel to help them avoid dangers, not impede their work by closing their offices and banning journalists from reporting freely from Baghdad'.

Alkifaey also said that Al Arabia is a highly professional media organization, and widely watched all over the Arab world, and 'its not in the interests of Iraqis to ban it from working in Iraq'. He emphasized the need for government adherence to the Iraqi constitution which guarantees the freedom of the press. He said there are 'other foreign  and local media outlets currently working in Iraq, which are more hostile and less professional than Al Arabia, yet no one has banned them nor protested against them'.  'Impartial Media should not take political stances, but if they did, it should be within their rights. Media hostility to government policies is not a hanging offence, and should be tolerated in a democracy' he said.  

Government Response

 The Iraqi government defended its decision despite the harsh criticism. Yaseen Majeed, media advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said, "If Al-Qaida wanted reporters to work for it; it could do no better than the reporters for Arabiya."

Arab media observers believe that Majeed, himself a journalist and former correspondent for the BBC Arabic Service in Tehran, is behind the decision. They believe that Majeed, who is known for his close ties to Iran, convinced Al-Maliki that Al-Arabiya is promoting Sunni insurgent violence.

The Dubai-based, Al-Arabiya is watched by millions in Iraq and in the Arab world. Its spokesman Nasser al-Sarami, has rejected the accusations. He said that its reporters adhered to objective reporting, saying the Iraqi government had not informed the channel which story had prompted the ban."We have been trying to contact the Iraqi government on their reason... but our calls have not been answered," he said.

Observers at Thursday's (7 September) Iraqi parliament session said the channel's coverage of the submission of a draft law on forming autonomous regions that could further divide up the country had in particular incensed authorities.

  In an interview with Iraqi television, Majeed pointed out Al-Arabiya's "provocative" coverage of gunmen in July through a Sunni neighbourhood in Baghdad.

According to an Iraqi government statement, the decision came after July's "final warning to Al-Arabiya in the hopes they will change their way of presenting coverage" which it said "promoted sectarianism and violence".

However, Mr. Majeed didn't explain why the government didn't act in July, when the incident he was referring to, first happened.  

 Soft Target

This is the second time Al Arabia channel has fallen foul of the Iraqi authorities. Its offices were temporarily closed in November 2003 by the Iraqi interim government after it broadcast a tape by Saddam Hussein calling for the killing of Iraqi officials. But the government explained its position then and gave Al Arabia advanced warning according to Mr. Alkifaey.  "The government case was very clear then, it was incitement of violence. They broadcast a tape calling clearly for the killing of Iraqis. Even Al Arabia people thought it was a mistake" he said.

 Al-Arabiya has lost 11 journalists during the last three years, the latest of whom was the famous woman journalist, Atwar Bahjet, who was killed with other three employees of Al Arabia near Samara. "This was a result of our balanced policy" Jihad Ballout, another Al-Arabiya spokesman, said.

Other media organizations, such as Al Jazeera, Al Iraqia, and other local and foreign news agencies and newspapers, have also lost journalists and photographers in violent acts over the last three and a half years, either through being targeted by terrorists or by the allies unintended fire. Journalists say they are 'soft targets' for terrorists since they are exposed due to their overt work.

The Iraqi media has seen a sharp increase in the number of television and radio channels and newspapers since the fall of Saddam Hussein, who had full control of all media. However, media observers say that most of them are owned and controlled by the different political factions. Many Iraqi journalists, who have seen dozens of colleagues kidnapped or killed, complain of intimidation by some officials and political operators.