While expressing support for Al-Jazeera:Concern for post-war Iraq on the rise [Archives:2003/631/Reportage]
April 14 2003
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In the light of the war dilapidation on Iraq and after attacking a number of journalists in Baghdad last week, the Yemen Journalist Syndicate staged a sit-in before the al-Jazeera Space Channel bureau in protest against killing one of its correspondents in Baghdad along with other corespondents.
\r\nHowever, during the sit-in, journalists rose many questions about the events of last week. What will follow Baghdad's collapse?
What has taken place in Iraq last week was unbelievable. It can not be measured by logic or military power. It is so complicated and needs time to discuss. The war's motives and elements behind such a quick collapse are also puzzling the world.
The military force used against Iraq is certainly not seen as a force for liberation. The war is a means to invade an oil-rich country by the US and the UK.
Contradictory reports have said that the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has been killed or sought asylum at the Russian Embassy along with his retinue.
Syria has also been accused of receiving and harboring some Iraqi top leaders.
If Saddam ever seeks political asylum to any country, it will not only be a shame on his clan, or the Iraqis in general, it will be a shame on all Arabs and Muslims.
The US, the West, and some time ago, the Kuwaitis, the Iranians and others wanted Saddam to stand trial as a war criminal.
Where does the truth lie?
The question which poses itself is, how the postwar Iraq government will be?
Is it destined for this government to be of liberals and enjoy freedom and peace? That is what we hope for the Iraqi people.
To shed light on this incident a number of journalists and corespondents have been interviewed by Yemen Times.
Mr. Anwar al-Ansi, al-Jazeera Satellite Channel correspondent said:
I can not confirm that the al-Jazeera channel has been intentionally targeted by the allied forces. Every one has his own perspective of judgment to search for truth.
In my point of view, the Arab and third world countries media constitute a huge threat to the Western media which lost credibility.
Neither al-Jazeera, nor Abu Dhabi channel or Reuters were key targets of the coalition forces. But there is of course a number of foreign correspondents who have been dismissed from covering war events in Iraq.
Some of those journalists have complained about illegal means practiced by the US leaders in order to impose a censorship on their news stories and reports.
Mr. Hafez al-Bukari, Oqadh Saudi-based newspaper corespondent.
The latest incidents have disclosed that the US power and its claims that it works to protect human rights, freedom of the press and opinion have been dismissed by the public. As soon as the US realized that the Arab media has produced news reports that were out of its control it targeted those organs.
I think that the Western media don't have the good characteristics as those of the Arab media in the way of handling such reports.
Despite dealing with the incidents in Iraq objectively by the Arab media, the US first sees itself defeated in this media battle. In addition, the Arab media have closely followed up those incidents and that Iraq has been attacked by the US.
Despite the negativity of such incidents, a positive prospective was displayed by the Arab journalists who presented a satisfactory level of professionalism for their veracious readers, viewers and listeners. Excellent news coverage and analysis were introduced to the Arab viewers by Arab presenters.
We hope that the Arab media could convey the incidents to Westerners using an Arab eye in order to expose the Western media's fabrications in all their institutions.
Mr. Qaderi Ahmed Haidarm of the Yemen Researches and Studies Center
I think that the strike that targeted journalists and mediamen by the US and UK forces in Baghdad is to conceal the realities of the battle in Baghdad, which is to plunder Iraq's wealth and its potentialities.
The Anglo-American attacks against journalists is a clear testimony of the narrowness of the US administration and its supporters' opinions. The matter of transparency that the US has been talking about has been sabotajed.
Perhaps it is for the first time in history that such a strike against journalists has been carried out. I think that part of this war and not the whole of it, is to let the US president George W. Bush's speech divert world attention from his failure to get bin Laden. The world falls into two parts, the “Good axis and evil axis”.
Bush once said that those who are not with him are against him and those who do not agree with the American concept of terrorism, are terrorists themselves. And since the world is in a state of change, we are in this case facing a fundamentalist aspect, aimed at dividing the world into two sides.
Sadeq Nasher, correspondent of the al-Watan, a Saudi-based paper
I think that targeting the al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi channels in Iraq is an attack on the freedom of the press. The Americans know very well that that what they have done in Iraq is part of horrible and dirty war.
They don't want the world around them to know what is going. The targeting of those two Arab channels is a new form of killing freedom of speech.
First the killing of a journalist and a photographer is a clear indication that those US and UK forces want to disrupt coverage of Arab channels to the world.
I think that the Arab world along with its satellite channels have done a good job and we have watched this on more than a channel.
Mohammed al-Ghobari, al-Bayan corespondent, a UAE-based paper
The attack on the al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi Channels in Iraq is just to push journalists to leave Baghdad. This will pave the way for the Americans to invade the city of Baghdad. This will lead also to killing of the civilians there and inevitable consequences.
Mohammed Sodam, Reuters's correspondent
The US and UK forces or any other superpower in the world could use its military artilleries to control or achieve its targets and interests in any spot of the world. But, it can not silence the journalists from expressing their opinions. What has been taken so far is an attempt to impose a new point of view. Despite that however, the Arab media and the Arab journalists will endeavor to disclose the truth to the public.
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[archive-e:631-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-04-14-p:report]
