Alouni’s charges upheld [Archives:2006/952/Front Page]

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June 5 2006

Yemen Times,
Al Jazeera and agencies

SANA'A, June 2 ) The Spanish Supreme Court acquitted Tayseer Alouni of being a member of al-Qaeda, yet upheld the 7-year jail term on charges of cooperating with the al-Qaida group responsible for the September 11th attack on the U.S.

Alouni was among 24 people tried in the High Court last year for belonging to al-Qaida. Among them also is Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, accused of being an Al Qaeda leader in Spain. Yarkas, will serve 12 years in jail for leading a terrorist group rather than the full 27 years to which he had been sentenced.

The High Court had ruled there was no proof that Syrian-born Yarkas took part in the attacks but said there was evidence he helped think up the plot, working with a radical cell in Hamburg. However, the same court maintained the 7-year term of Alouni.

The Arab Committee for the Defence of Journalists described this move as unjust and called upon all civil rights and media groups to “uncover the truth” of Alouni's case, as reported by Al Jazeera. About the verdict, his wife Fatima Zahra told the press: “We will do everything we can to prove his innocence in the end.” Moreover, there are concerns over Alouni's health who suffers from high blood pressure and problems with his spine.

Alouni who is of Syrian origin and Spanish nationality has gained international recognition as a journalist when he secured an interview with Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida's leader, in 1998, and for his coverage of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The story of Tayseer Alouni

Alouni, who began his career as an Arabic translator for a news agency in Granada, Spain, is credited as being the only journalist based in Afghanistan in October 2001 to show the world what the US war machine was doing to one of the world's poorest countries.

By then working for Aljazeera, Alouni was able to capture images of civilian victims in the destitute villages of Afghanistan and the miserable streets of Kabul. His coverage triggered international outrage over the US action in Afghanistan.

Alouni's work in that war-torn country came to an end when US forces bombed Aljazeera's Kabul office just hours before the Northern Alliance entered the Afghan capital. While many say the office was deliberately targeted, Aljazeera keeps an open mind, while still asking for an official investigation.

Alluni left Kabul shortly before his office was bombed, following the Taliban retreat and reporting on it. Much of what he witnessed was too distressing to show and he was himself assaulted. “Scenes that, I'm sorry, I could not describe to anybody,” he said.

Beaten and mugged, Alluni has not said who attacked him but described the incident as leaving him “in deep psychological shock”.

Back to Qatar

Alluni returned to Doha, Qatar, exhausted and with mixed emotions.

Although professionally satisfied at being able to report the war – reportage that earned him international recognition – the images of suffering were painful to carry.

A respected member of staff, the appreciation he received from his colleagues back in Doha helped Alluni recover from his stint in Afghanistan and surgery he underwent in the Qatari capital.

To war zone once more

Despite his deteriorating health, Alluni headed to Baghdad in the second week of the US war on Iraq in March 2003 on his next assignment.

While reporting there, he once more narrowly escaped a US bombardment. That he survived the US bombing of the Aljazeera Baghdad bureau is little short of a miracle. Aljazeera continues to pursue an official response to this attack – an onslaught that killed his colleague, Aljazeera reporter Tariq Ayub.

Behind bars

When US President George Bush officially declared the Iraq war over, Alluni chose Spain as his destination for a holiday, thinking that his Spanish citizenship would help him avoid harassment and facilitate his movements.

His hopes proved to be unfounded. Syrian-born Alluni, a father of five, was arrested in September 2003 at his home in Granada. He is accused of being a member of a group in Spain belonging to al-Qaida.

Alluni was bailed on medical grounds about a month later. He has a serious heart condition.

However, he was re-arrested in November 2003 for fear he may flee the country while awaiting trial.

He remains behind bars, a situation that has sparked outrage among Arab human rights groups, journalists and colleagues, who describe this controversial prosecution of this very modern Arab icon as nothing more than an attack on the freedom of the press.
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