[Mb-civic] FW: Iran bans al-Jazeera after riots

[Golsorkhi]

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From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:40:51 -0400
Subject: Iran bans al-Jazeera after riots

BBC News
04/19/05

  Iran bans al-Jazeera after riots

  Iran has suspended operations by the al-Jazeera television network,
accusing it of inflaming violent protests by the country's Arab
minority.

  Three people have died in ethnic clashes in Iran's south-west
Khuzestan province over the past few days.

  The riots are thought to have been sparked by alleged plans - which
the government denies - to change the area's ethnic makeup.

  Al-Jazeera described the action as "surprising and unjustified".

  It said it would maintain its "editorial policy of airing the full
range of opinions and covering current affairs in Iran objectively and
fairly".

  Government investigation

  The television network - which is popular among Iranian Arabs - is
reported to have been the first to broadcast news of the
demonstrations.

  The government is launching an investigation into al-Jazeera's
coverage of the rioting.

  "If it is proved that al-Jazeera committed a crime, it will be
prosecuted," Mohammad Khoshvaght of the culture and Islamic guidance
ministry told state television.

  Iranian MPs have criticised al-Jazeera, saying it portrayed the
violence as a separatist unrest.

  The Popular Democratic Front of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran, which is based
in London, told al-Jazeera that it had called for peaceful
demonstrations in Khuzestan to "to mark 80 years of Iranian occupation"
but the government had opted to deploy military force.

  Iran's Arabs, who are the majority in Khuzestan's capital Ahwaz, make
up only 3% of the population of Iran.

  Iran's interior ministry says the area is now calm.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4459033.stm

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