U.S. Forces Want Al-Jazeera Out Of Fallujah

[Tinoire]

U.S. Forces Want Al-Jazeera Out Of Fallujah

By Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, April 9 (IslamOnline.net) - The United States asked al-Jazeera team to leave Fallujah as one of conditions for reaching a settlement to the bloody stand-off in the besieged western Baghdad town Friday, April 9.

"American forces declared al-Jazeera must leave before any progress is made to settle the Fallujah stand-off," al-Jazeera director general Wadah Khanfar told IslamOnline.net, citing sources close to the Iraqi Governing Council.

<snip>

Only Media Outlet

The channel - Khanfar added, is probably the only media in Fallujah, where its correspondent seized hours of the channel’s air time to convey the deteriorating situation over the past few days.

<snip>

Corpses are littered in the streets as U.S. warplanes hit the only hospital and other makeshift medical centers, he added.

As Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, the deputy director of U.S. military operations in Iraq, was speaking by phone on al-Jazeera and insisting that American forces declared a unilateral ceasefire in Fallujah, the channel was airing live images of continued air raids by F16 fighter jets on residential neighborhoods of the town.

Kimmitt later dismissed the coverage of the channel for the crisis as a "series of lies". However, asked by al-Jazeera anchor about the live images, the U.S. commander said he was not accusing al-Jazeera of faking the images, but rather “looked at things differently”.

He said the attacks by F16 fighter jets and helicopters were meant to take out “armed insurgents firing at our troops”. The anchor reminded Kimmitt, however, that “live coverage showed children and women killed by the missiles, not armed insurgents”.

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http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/09/article06.shtml

[JohnOneillsMemory]

1. Those al-Jazeera reporters are heroes. "seeing things differently" indeed.

Show us the humanity. Make us understand.

[fairfaxvadem]

2. if this is accurate, it's a stupid move...

I mean, wasn't the recent shutting down of Sadr's newspaper a lightning rod for violence? Now, if the only media outlet is told to leave as part of some ceasefire, isn't that darn near the same thing??

How about a little pattern recognition here from the US command...

[pinkpops]

3. no witnesses

[maddezmom]

4. more democracy and freedom of the press according the bush*

:eyes:

[Moderator]

5. This was reported yesterday, see discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=475803