Al Qaeda slams Al Jazeera as pro-American

DUBAI - Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq has slammed Al Jazeera television, saying the satellite channel often criticised by Washington was siding with the United States in its reporting on the violence in the Arab country.

An Al Jazeera spokesman rejected the criticism of its coverage, saying it was balanced.

"Where are you heading, Jazeera? Why this hostility toward the mujahideen (holy warriors)?" the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said, according to a statement posted on an Islamist website.

"All the American army statements are carried and accepted but no one carries the mujahideen's side."

It said Al Jazeera had reported US statements that its forces had killed 50 insurgents in an operation underway in western Iraq, but did not broadcast the group's statement that it had shot down eight US helicopters.

"Where is the claimed balance?" the statement said.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the Web statement, signed by the group's spokesman.

The criticism followed accusations by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier this month that the Qatar-based channel encouraged militants by airing hostage executions. Al Jazeera denies broadcasting any executions.

Al Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said the popular Arab channel, which has an estimated 40 million viewers, was used to being criticised by opposing sides.

"Al Jazeera is not a political party. It is not pro- anybody, or anti- anybody for that matter. We cover politics in accordance with a clear and transparent editorial policy," Ballout said.

"Al Jazeera has for years now been at the receiving end of criticism from opposing sides that seem to be united in criticising Al Jazeera."

The channel's graphic coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and its airing of exclusive tapes of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States gained it millions of viewers in the Arab world.

Its offices in Kabul and in Baghdad have been hit by US fire that Washington said was accidental, and it has been banned from reporting in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

In January, the channel was voted the world's fifth most influential brand in a poll by online magazine Brandchannel.

- REUTERS