Posts Tagged ‘Al Jazeera’
March 14th, 2011
Ali Hassan Al Jaber, an Al Jazeera cameraman, was
killed in Libya on 12 March after being shot by unknown attackers, in an
ambush by forces loyal to Gaddafi.
After covering an anti-government protest, the Al Jazeera team was on its way to the city of Benghazi, when the car they were travelling in came under fire. Another journalist in the car received minor gun shot wounds. Al Jaber is the first journalist to have been killed while covering the recent unrest in Libya.
Wadah Khanfar, the director-general of Al Jazeera, condemned the attack on its journalists: “Al Jazeera reiterates the assault cannot dent its resolve to continue its mission, professionally enlightening the public of the unfolding events in Libya and elsewhere.”
It is also
reported that Brazilian journalist, Andrei Netto, who was being held by Libyan authorities has now been released. However, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a Guardian journalist who was
detained at the same time as Netto, is still in custody.
January 31st, 2011
As protests in Egypt continue into their seventh day and police return to the streets, at least six
journalists were arrested in Cairo earlier today. They were released after about three hours later, amidst unconfirmed reports that the United States had demanded their release. Equipment seized during the arrests was not returned to the correspondents. Al Jazeera reported that six of their journalists had been arrested, including Dan Nolan, the network’s United Arab Emirates’ correspondent. ‘Unsure if arrested or about to be deported. 6 of us held at army checkpoint outside Hilton hotel. Equipment seized too. #Egypt #jan25’, he tweeted just after midday BST on Monday. Activists also raised the alarm over the whereabouts of blogger
Wael Ghonim, who works for Google Middle East. Ghonim has not been heard from since Thursday, 27 January. Only a day before, he voiced his anger over the government’s censorship of social media. Access to the internet has been mostly blocked, but activists and journalists have continued to get the word out via
landlines and satellite phones.
December 14th, 2010
Al Jazeera’s office in Kuwait City has been
shut down after the news channel broadcast footage of police brutality against members of the Kuwaiti opposition. The footage showed police beating activists, and the channel aired interviews with members of the Kuwaiti opposition. Four Kuwaiti members of parliament and a dozen citizens were injured in the incident. The official reason for the closure given to Al Jazeera was “the latest developments and your interference in Kuwait’s internal affairs”. Al Jazeera’s Kuwait office was previously closed in November 2002 in the run-up to the US led invasion of Iraq.
May 24th, 2010
Al-Jazeera was
suspended from operating in Bahrain on 19 May. The government said the news channel was “flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing” in the country and did not comply with “professional norms.” The bureau’s suspension includes both the Arabic and English stations and Bahrain-based online content; and an Al-Jazeera film crew have been denied entry into the country. Some
reports claim a report Al-Jazeera aired on poverty in Bahrain may have been the catalyst for the ban.
August 10th, 2009
A government campaign is taking place in Tunisia to discredit Al Jazeera as “the mouthpiece of opposition” to President Ben Ali’s government according to Reporters Without Borders. State owned media and television are being seen to criticise the Doha run news service. Al Jazeera Tunisia correspondent Lofti Hajji has had his activities severely restricted and police have prevented him from interviewing human rights activists and his internet connection has been cut for the past month. Read more
here
July 21st, 2009
Al-Jazeera has resumed its broadcasts in the West Bank, after a ban on it was lifted by the Palestinian Authority. Last week’s ban came after a guest on the station accused Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of collaborating with Israel to have Yasser Arafat killed. Read more
here
July 17th, 2009
Dimi Reider speaks to Walid Omary, Jerusalem bureau chief for al Jazeera, about the Palestinian Authority’s decision to shut down the station’s Ramallah bureau
(more…)
June 19th, 2009
Palestinian Authority security officials have seized and erased video footage shot by news service Al Jazeera on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Hebron. The erased footage dealt with a prisoners death in a Hebron detention centre and alleged torture. Read more
here
