PM bans al-Jazeera for inciting hatred

By DONALD MacINTYRE IN BAGHDAD

The Arab satellite TV network al-Jazeera has been banned from operating in Iraq for 30 days as Iyad Allawi's interim Government seeks to restore stability after three days of fighting that US forces claim killed 300 Shiite insurgents.

The renewable ban on the Qatar-based network was announced at a news conference at which Allawi also unveiled details of a limited amnesty designed to win back the support of potential recruits to an insurgency joined once again by supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

As Allawi accused al-Jazeera of inciting hatred, a statement from the Ministry of the Interior said it had failed to show the "reality of Iraqi political life" and had "agreed to become the voice of terrorist groups".

Falah al-Naqib, the Interior Minister, who last week declared that al-Jazeera was "strengthening" kidnappers and hostage-takers by showing their videos, said the month in which its Baghdad office would be closed down would give it the chance "to readjust its policy agenda". He accused the station of encouraging "criminals and gangsters to do their activities in the country", and said the station transmitted "a bad picture of Iraq".

The move, which the station immediately condemned as regrettable and not justifiable, was the most draconian measure publicly announced by Allawi yesterday, as the mainly deserted streets of the holy Shiite city of Najaf experienced a few hours of relative calm after what had appeared to be some of the most intensive fighting seen in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein 16 months ago.

Allawi also made a surprise visit to the city yesterday afternoon. He was accompanied by his interior and defence ministers and immediately held talks with the city's governor.

Allawi has gone out of his way to bring al-Sadr into the political fold and yesterday insisted that the Najaf troubles were fomented by criminals hiding behind al-Sadr's name.

"I have been having positive messages from Moqtada al-Sadr, that's why we don't think the people who are committing the crimes in Najaf and elsewhere are his people."

- INDEPENDENT , REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq