IceTea
25-08-06, 05:46 PM
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has banned television channels from broadcasting gory images of daily bloodshed in the country, the interior ministry said in a statement.
During a visit to the ministry on Wednesday, Maliki issued an order prohibiting broadcasters from showing "blood and killings that magnify the horror" and warned of legal action against those violating the order.
Major General Rashid Flayah, head of a national police division, urged reporters to tone down stories that could inflame sectarian passions in a country riven by violence between Sunni and Shiite groups.
"We will let you do the job, but we want you to stop publishing pictures that arouse passions and sectarian feelings," he told a news conference. "You should reject it. We are building the country with Kalashnikovs and you should help in building it with the use of your pen."
Flayah cited a recent report on an Iraqi network in which the police was criticised for raiding a mosque.
"The terrorists had used the mosque to hide weapons such as RPGs (rocket-propelled-grenades) and explosives and when we raided it the media criticised our action," he said.
Iraq and especially Baghdad is engulfed in daily tit-for-tat sectarian killings, with around 50 murder victims being brought to the morgue every day.
source (http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket7st/basket7st1156426205.aspx)
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Interesting!
Where is the freedom of speech/media?
Is it possible to bulid a country with Kalashnikovs?
During a visit to the ministry on Wednesday, Maliki issued an order prohibiting broadcasters from showing "blood and killings that magnify the horror" and warned of legal action against those violating the order.
Major General Rashid Flayah, head of a national police division, urged reporters to tone down stories that could inflame sectarian passions in a country riven by violence between Sunni and Shiite groups.
"We will let you do the job, but we want you to stop publishing pictures that arouse passions and sectarian feelings," he told a news conference. "You should reject it. We are building the country with Kalashnikovs and you should help in building it with the use of your pen."
Flayah cited a recent report on an Iraqi network in which the police was criticised for raiding a mosque.
"The terrorists had used the mosque to hide weapons such as RPGs (rocket-propelled-grenades) and explosives and when we raided it the media criticised our action," he said.
Iraq and especially Baghdad is engulfed in daily tit-for-tat sectarian killings, with around 50 murder victims being brought to the morgue every day.
source (http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket7st/basket7st1156426205.aspx)
====
Interesting!
Where is the freedom of speech/media?
Is it possible to bulid a country with Kalashnikovs?