A leading U.S.-based press watchdog says it is "deeply disturbed" by a directive issued last week by the Iraqi interim government's new media commission that warned the press operating in Iraq to reflect the government's position in fighting by U.S., coalition, and Iraqi forces against insurgents.
The warning came in a statement released Thursday by the government's Higher Media Commission (HMC), which was created by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi last summer and is headed by a senior member of Allawi's Iraqi National Accord (INA) party, Ibrahim Janabi, a former intelligence agent for ousted President Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party. Citing the 60-day state of emergency declared by Allawi on the eve of the U.S. offensive against insurgents in Fallujah, the HMC directive said news media must differentiate between "innocent citizens" of the city and the insurgents.
It warned that journalists should not attach "patriotic descriptions to groups of killers and criminals," and urged the media to "set aside space in your news coverage to make the position of the Iraqi government, which expresses the aspirations of most Iraqis, clear."
"You must be precise and objective in handling news and information," according to the statement, which was reported by Associated Press and Reuters. "We hope you comply … otherwise we regret we will be forced take all the legal measures to guarantee higher national interests," it said, without elaboration.
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=3985
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