New ban on Al-Jazeera criticised

Reporters Without Borders today expressed "great concern" at Iraq's indefinite extension on 4 September of its month-long ban on the regional TV station Al-Jazeera from operating in the country. The Iraqi National Security Committee had previously ordered the station's offices closed for 30 days on 7 August. It said the 4 September decision by the interim government "contradicts previous statements of good intent and confirms the trend toward rebuilding the country at the expense of democracy and press freedom." The move was "particularly unfortunate" because the station had given substantial support to efforts to free kidnapped French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot and their driver and guide Mohammed al-Joundi. Al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said a large number of police had without warning taken over the station's Baghdad offices on 4 September, sealed them off and posted a guard of 14 men outside. Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi's office said that since the station had not replied to the charges that it had incited people to violence, the ban on it broadcasting from inside the country was being extended. The Qatar-based station denied the same day that it had incited violence and condemned the extension, by re-emphasising « its commitment to continue to cover Iraq in accordance with its editorial policy and professional values enshrined in its Code of Ethics. »