Monday, November 06, 2006
Government closes down Sunni TV stations
Politics, Media
After Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang on Sunday, Iraqi security forces closed two Sunni Muslim television stations, Al-Zawraa and Salah Al-Din, for violating curfew and a law that bans airing material that could undermine the country's stability, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the Interior Ministry spokesman said. He said that the stations violated a curfew imposed in three provinces by speaking to people in the streets and airing comments that were deemed to "incite violence." The owner of Al-Zawraa, legislator Mishan al-Jabouri, said later Sunday that Iraqi police raided the headquarters of the station and cordoned them off because of the channel's criticism of the verdict. Al-Jabouri, leader of the small Sunni Arab Front for Reconciliation and Liberation, had his parliamentary immunity stripped last month after he was accused of embezzling funds intended for an armed force protecting oil pipelines in northern Iraq.
COMMENT: The local channels, which are based in the volatile Salah Al-Din governorate north of Baghdad, had aired scenes from the protests in Tikrit against Saddam’s sentence, as part of the “Iraqi Street” programme, as well as interviews with protestors. Salah Al-Din channel is owned and operated by two businessmen from Tikrit and most of its programmes are entertainment. The Al-Furat channel, operated by the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Shi’ite), had called on the Interior Ministry to close the two channels for broadcasting the pro-Saddam demonstrations today. There are increasing calls from Shi’ite MPs to close the Al-Sharqiya channel, which some argue is the only remaining Iraqi channel that does not align itself with any political party or sectarian group.
The government has also prohibited the display of images of the violence in Iraq on TV stations, and has threatened media outlets and journalists with prosecution and legal action if they “criticise” Iraqi governmental officials (by reporting on corruption cases, for example). In September the Iraqi government ordered the Arabic satellite network Al-Arabiya to shut down its Baghdad operations for one month. In November 2003, the U.S.-appointed Governing Council banned Al-Arabiya from reporting from Baghdad after it aired an audio tape said to be from Saddam Hussein, who was still at large at the time. The station was allowed to resume its work shortly afterward. The Iraqi government closed the Baghdad news office of Al-Jazeera television in August 2004, accusing the station of inciting violence. The office is still closed but the station operates in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north. So much for freedom of the press, it appears the current government is returning to the habits of the old regime, a move that is likely to cause further tensions between the Shias and Sunnis. COMMENT ENDS.
