Al-Arabiya yanked off Baghdad skies
Reason for closure unclear
An order was issued Sept. 7 from Iraqi preem Nouri Al-Maliki's Cabinet announcing the monthlong ban of Al-Arabiya. Though the satcaster would still be allowed to beam into Iraq, its reporters would not be permitted to operate on the ground there.
At first, it seemed the move was the Iraqi government flexing its muscles after an on-air spat with deputy preem Barham Saleh on an Al-Arabiya show.
On Sept. 8, however, Al-Maliki's office released a statement condemning Al-Arabiya's coverage of an incident in Baghdad's Jihad neighborhood in July when Shia Iraqi gunmen went on the rampage killing at least 40 Sunni Iraqis in the worst single act of sectarian violence the capital had yet seen.
Al-Maliki's office accused Al-Arabiya of "distortions of facts and inaccuracies" and attempting to stoke sectarian tensions in the country, charges which Al-Arabiya execs denied.
The plot thickened on Sept. 11 when Iraq's speaker of parliament, Mahmud Al-Mashhadani, laid the blame for the satcaster's closure due to its coverage of a controversial bill on regional autonomy.
"It is an unjustified accusation against a community when Al-Arabiya says that a draft submitted by the Shia would lead to a secession or the division of Iraq," Al-Mashhadani said at a confab.
Execs at the station believe the closure is a result of internal jockeying between rival political factions.
"It's an issue with the Shia side of the Iraqi government," says one Al-Arabiya exec on condition of anonymity.
Former preem Iyad Allawi, who heads a secular coalition outside the Cabinet, is known to be close to Al-Arabiya and that is thought to rankle the current Iraqi administration.
Allawi, along with some other political parties, was against the bill that proposed allowing Shias to form an autonomous region in the south of Iraq, similar to the deal that exists with the Kurds in the north.
With Shia-Sunni tensions in Iraq leaving the country teetering on the brink on civil war, accusations of bias are taken very seriously.
It's not the first time Al-Arabiya has been closed down in Iraq. In October 2003, the station was shut down for three months by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council following accusations of inciting violence after it broadcast a message purportedly from Saddam Hussein urging resistance against U.S.-led forces in the country. Rival newscaster Al-Jazeera has been banned from operating in Iraq since August 2004. Though the current ban on Al-Arabiya is only for a month, the satcaster is taking it seriously.
"This is a last warning. It will be an automatic all-out ban the next time round," says the Al-Arabiya exec.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the media scene in Iraq thrived as some dozen Iraqi satcasters and more than 200 local newspapers emerged. The escalating violence has led the Iraqi government to try and curtail some of these press freedoms.
At his Sept. 11 confab Mashhadani said authorities would now be "stricter with local newspapers and magazines because we want to reduce tensions."
The crackdown has caused some consternation in the Bush administration.
"We would urge the Iraqi government as well as other governments to err on the side, whenever possible, of allowing for and promoting freedom of the press and freedom of expression," says State Dept. spokesman Seth McCormack.
Away from Iraq, Al-Arabiya enjoyed some good news with the release of figures showing it beat rival Al-Jazeera in the fight for pan-Arab auds during the recent Lebanon-Israel conflict. Research group Ipsos-Stat showed Al-Arabiya enjoyed a 17% audience share compared to Al-Jazeera's 12% share.
