[Mb-civic] Iraq Evicts Reporters from Najaf As sociated Press

[Michael Butler]

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    Iraq Evicts Reporters from Najaf
    Associated Press

     Sunday 15 August 2004

     BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi police ordered all journalists to leave the
holy city of Najaf on Sunday, just as a new U.S. offensive against militants
hiding out in a revered shrine there began.

     Four police cars surrounded a hotel in the city where journalists were
staying and presented the order signed by Najaf's police chief, Brig. Ghalib
al-Jazaari.

     Though the order did not spell out a punishment for those who did not
comply, the police who delivered it said any reporters remaining would be
arrested, according to journalists at the hotel. The police said any cameras
and cellular phones they saw would be confiscated. In response to the
threat, many journalists left the city.

     The order would mean that the only news coverage of the ongoing
violence in Najaf, one of the most revered cities to Shiite Muslims, would
be provided by reporters embedded with the U.S. military.

     The U.S. military had no immediate comment.

     The order also said that all cars coming into the city would be
searched and all protesters must leave the city.

     Earlier Sunday, police had advised reporters to leave Najaf, saying
there was rumor of a potential car bombing targeting journalists. When most
reporters stayed, the police returned with the order to leave.

     Concerns about the interim government's commitment to freedom of the
press were sparked Aug. 7 when officials order the Baghdad office of the
pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera closed.

     A constitution endorsed by the members of Iraq's now disbanded
Governing Council in March includes protections for freedom of speech.

 

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