KNOW YOUR ENEMY

Iraqi Crowd Harasses Al-Jazeera Crew (AP, May 11, 2003)

A small crowd of Iraqis harassed an Al-Jazeera television crew Saturday, accusing the journalists of supporting former President Saddam Hussein, the satellite channel reported.

The incident occurred in Basra, southern Iraq, as the Al-Jazeera crew were driving to a meeting that was to be addressed by Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, who returned to Iraq earlier Saturday after 20 years of exile in Iran.

Dozens of Iraqis surrounded the crew's van and harassed the journalists, the channel's newscaster said in the evening news bulletin.

"The angry locals accused the station of complicity with the previous regime (of Saddam) against the interests of the Iraqi people,'' the newscaster said. [...]

The channel is one of the most respected television services in the Arab world, particularly for broadcasting panel discussions where guests bluntly criticize Arab governments. But its coverage of the Iraq war was criticized for giving more time to officials of Saddam's government than to its opponents.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 11, 2003 9:08 PM