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Us shuts down iraqi newspaper Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/204/nation/Iraqi_newspaper_is_closed_down+.shtmlhttp://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/204/nation/Iraqi_newspaper_is_closed_down+.shtml
RAID IN BAGHDAD
Iraqi newspaper is closed down
Manager arrested after article is deemed 'inciteful'
By Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 7/23/2003
BAGHDAD -- A local newspaper has been shut down and its manager arrested because of an article that US occupation authorities and Iraqi officials considered to be an incitement to violence and a threat to human rights in Iraq.
Iraqi police accompanied by US military forces raided the offices of the newspaper al-Mustaqila, which means ''The Independent'' in Arabic. Neighbors said troops broke down the front door, ransacked the office, and detained the newspaper's manager, Abdul Sattar Shalan.
According to the US Coalition Provisional Authority, the paper published an article 10 days ago titled, ''Death to all spies and those who cooperate with the US; killing them is religious duty.''
The title closely echoed recent threats made by clandestine armed groups against US forces and their Iraqi collaborators.
''The Coalitional Provisional Authority supports and encourages the development of a free and responsible Iraqi press,'' the agency said in a statement. But it said Mustaqila ''has chosen to threaten the basic human rights of Iraqi citizens'' and published a ''clearly inciteful article,'' putting it in violation of occupation authority rules regarding the media.
The US authority has banned Iraqi media from publishing or airing material it views as inciting political, religious, or ethnic violence or promoting attacks on US forces here. It already has shut down a Baghdad radio station and a Shi'ite Muslim newspaper in Najaf on these grounds.
In a report issued yesterday, the Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders criticized the media rules, saying US authorities should ease their restrictions on Iraqi media and develop more ''liberal and democratic'' regulations.
The Iraqi Governing Council, appointed earlier this month by US officials, issued a statement supporting the shutdown of Mustaqila. It said the article in question was ''inconsistent with all laws, religious principles, and human rights,'' and that the right to media dissent should not extend to ''calling for the shedding of others' blood.''
Yesterday, the two-story yellow building that housed Mustaqila was locked and empty, and no copies of the newspaper could be found at any newsstand in downtown Baghdad. But several neighbors described Monday's armed raid in detail and said they were surprised because nothing about the newspaper or its staff had seemed out of the ordinary.
''Everything seemed normal. There was nothing suspicious. They reported on what was happening, including the attacks [on US troops] in Fallujah,'' said Abdul Mohsin, 40, who manages a printing plant across the street. He said the police and US troops had turned the newspaper's office upside down and taken equipment.
Occupation authorities could not be reached for comment last night. It was not clear whether the article in question had been a news story or an editorial, and there was no information on the whereabouts of Mustaqila's manager or whether charges would be filed against him.
Several Iraqi newspaper journalists said they knew little about Mustaqila but that they did not feel the US authorities interfere unduly in their own work. More than 50 newspapers and magazines have opened in the capital since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's repressive government.
''Every day the Americans send a representative with their news, and we are free to publish it or not,'' said Nadah Shauqat, an editor at az-Zaman, the best-known daily newspaper in Baghdad.
''We are independent. We publish news and interviews about political groups, but we do not publish propaganda.''
This story ran on page A11 of the Boston Globe on 7/23/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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