(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to United States (US) Attorney General John Ashcroft, RSF protested after Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, Mohammad Al-Alami, was taken in for questioning by police while en route to the Russian-American Summit in Texas. “The reporter’s detention for questioning is a violation of both the freedom to circulate and the right […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to United States (US) Attorney General John Ashcroft, RSF protested after Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, Mohammad Al-Alami, was taken in for questioning by police while en route to the Russian-American Summit in Texas. “The reporter’s detention for questioning is a violation of both the freedom to circulate and the right to information. Mohammad Al-Alami is a victim of true discrimination,” commented RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. He called on the attorney general to cease his country’s pressure on the television channel, saying, “information pluralism must be respected in all circumstances.”
According to information gathered by RSF, Al-Alami was taken in for questioning on 14 November 2001, upon his arrival at Waco airport, in Texas. “Police officers armed with M-16 automatic weapons followed me as I was leaving the airport and arrested me,” explained Al-Alami. The reporter, a US citizen, showed the police his passport and press accreditation in vain. Since the credit card used for buying his travel ticket had been used in Afghanistan, the police refused to let him leave the airport. The reporter was released a few hours later, after special services intervened. The FBI invoked a case of mistaken identity.
Al-Jazeera was recently the only television channel allowed to broadcast from Kabul by the Taliban during US military operations.
On 12 November, RSF protested after the US army bombed Al-Jazeera’s offices in Kabul that morning. Just as the first Northern Alliance troops entered the city, which was abandoned by the Taliban, missiles reportedly targeted the television channel’s offices. Although there were no victims, the channel’s equipment was totally destroyed (see IFEX alert of 15 November 2001).
On 10 October, Secretary of State Colin Powell stated on the US television channel CBS that Al-Jazeera was giving a great deal of time and attention to some vitriolic and “irresponsible” declarations. He denounced the Qatari television channel’s “incendiary rhetoric.” The day after the first American strikes, Al-Jazeera broadcast Osama Ben Laden’s declarations. He promised that the US would “never be safe.”
On 3 October, Powell contacted Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, principal shareholder of the channel, to ask him to intercede and ask the channel’s editors to modify their coverage of events. The previous day, the American Embassy in Qatar accused Al-Jazeera of giving biased coverage of the 11 September terrorist attacks, as well as encouraging anti-American sentiment in the Middle East (see IFEX alerts of 23, 9 and 5 October 2001).
