Iraqi Council Bans Al-Jazeera TV Station
VOA News
31 Jan 2004, 20:54 UTC
The Iraqi interim government temporarily banned the Arabic television broadcaster al-Jazeera from attending its news conferences to protest comments aired by the station.
News reports say the month-long ban also prevents employees of the station from entering the offices of the U.S.-backed Governing Council in Iraq.
A spokesman for the Qatar-based broadcaster told Reuters news agency the controversial remarks were made by a telephone caller during an on-air debate on the situation in Iraq. News agencies did not carry the offending remarks.
Wednesday, the council lifted a two-month ban on rival station al-Arabiya after it aired a tape from Saddam Hussein in which the ousted leader called on his followers to attack council members.
Council officials say they allowed al-Arabiya to resume broadcasting from Iraq after the station promised to abide by post-war Iraqi rules on media coverage.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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