Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Government bans media from scenes of bombings
Media
(AP) - Iraqi police prevented news photographers and camera operators from filming the scene of a bombing Tuesday under a new policy limiting coverage of the devastating explosions that have become a hallmark of the violence in the country. To enforce its order that a group of Iraqi journalists leave Tayaran Square, where the bombing occurred, police fired several shots in the air, reporters said.
Brig. Gen. Abdel Karim Khalaf, the operations director at the Interior Ministry, said this weekend that Iraq's government has decided to bar news photographers and cameramen from the scene of bombings. The order was aimed at preventing journalists from distributing evidence needed for the investigation, protecting the privacy and human rights of those wounded and keeping insurgents and militias from keeping track of their success rate, Khalaf said.
He denied that the new regulation was aimed at curtailing press freedoms, saying other countries have similar restrictions. U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown in Baghdad three months ago in an effort to improve security in the capital, where scores of people often die each day in roadside and suicide bomb attacks, and in sectarian violence involving majority Shiites and minority Sunnis
Brig. Gen. Abdel Karim Khalaf, the operations director at the Interior Ministry, said this weekend that Iraq's government has decided to bar news photographers and cameramen from the scene of bombings. The order was aimed at preventing journalists from distributing evidence needed for the investigation, protecting the privacy and human rights of those wounded and keeping insurgents and militias from keeping track of their success rate, Khalaf said.
He denied that the new regulation was aimed at curtailing press freedoms, saying other countries have similar restrictions. U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown in Baghdad three months ago in an effort to improve security in the capital, where scores of people often die each day in roadside and suicide bomb attacks, and in sectarian violence involving majority Shiites and minority Sunnis
Labels: Brig. Gen. Abdel Karim Khalaf, Iraq, media
