Media should be able to report freely in Egypt, says al-Jazeera
The Arabic television network al-Jazeera has hit out at Egyptian authorities for its targeted disruption of media and journalists covering events as they unfold in the Arab world's largest nation.
The global satellite network says its live channel al-Jazeera Mubasher was removed from the Nilesat platform from which the public receive television channels on Friday morning.
Authorities also closed al-Jazeera's office in Cairo, and cut its telephone landlines. The network's main Arabic news channel also faced signal interference.
"We call upon the Egyptian authorities to uphold the right of the media to report news freely," Ayman Jaballah, the managing director of al-Jazeera Mubasher said in a statement issued on Friday night. "There should be no impediments or restrictions in front of a free press," he said.
A number of jounalists including from al-Jazeera, The Associated Press, CNN, The Guardian and Reuters, have been attacked in recent days by Egyptian security forces and plain-clothed police. Some have been beaten while others have had their cameras and cell phones confiscated. A CNN team had a camera taken from them and broken. According to Reporters Without Borders, more than a dozen journalists have been arrested.
Al-Jazeera's coverage of anti-government demonstrations has previously faced censure from regimes, most notably recently in Tunisia where the channel was banned by the former president. Despite this, al-Jazeera continued to report on the uprisings.
Al-Jazeera, established 14 years ago by the Qatar government, and headquartered in that country's capital, Doha, has a fierce reputation in Middle East media for on-the-ground reporting of events as they unfold, in an unbiased, and neutral way. It has often come under criticism from governments for its exposure of incidents and events that have embarrassed those governments. The network's offices and personnel have often been subject to attacks. Its offices and studio in Baghdad have been bombed at least twice. This week the network was attacked by leaders of the Palestinian Authority accusing it of engineering a "smear campaign" after it released what have become known as the Palestine papers."
Comments
More Manila News
RSS-
Philippines Port Development Summit Scheduled for August
The Philippines Port Sector presents substantial commercial opportunities to across all its stakeholders. Over 400 billion pesos (US$9.6 billion) has been set by the government in 2013 for infrastructure upgrade targeting at ports, roads and rails. The port sector is poised for stronger growth in the coming years. The Inaugural Philippines Port Development Summit will confront challenges faced ...
-
Magnitude-4.4 quake jolts Quezon Province intensity 2 felt in parts of Metro Manila
Photo from http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph MANILA, Philippines--A 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, Wednesday night, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported. The tectonic quake was recorded at 7:05 p.m., with its epicenter at 40 kilometers northeast of Polillo Island in Quezon. Intensity III was felt in Labo, Camarines Norte; ...
-
Ex-USC professor on FBI most-wanted list captured in Mexico
A former University of Southern California professor on the FBI's most-wanted list for alleged sex crimes involving children was caught in Mexico, the FBI said. Bill Lewis, FBI assistant director in charge, said 64-year-old Walter Lee Williams was arrested Tuesday by Mexican authorities, The Los Angeles Times reported. The FBI said authorities have identified at least 10 of the alleged ...
-
Storm Nock-Ten claims over 400000 USD worth of Philippine crops
Tropical storm Nock-Ten (local name: Juaning) damaged 17.17 million pesos (about 407,664 U.S. dollars) worth of Philippine crops, according to initial report filed Thursday by the agriculture department.Nock-Ten, which triggered flash floods, destroyed 2,977 hectares of farmland planted with rice, damaging 10.83 million pesos (257,183 U.S. dollars) worth of unmilled rice.A total of 612 metric ...
-
Seven soldiers killed in southern Philippine clash
Seven government soldiers were killed in a clash between Philippine troops and the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippine province of Sulu on Thursday.According to Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman for the Armed Forces' Western Mindanao Command, the encounter between the 11th Marine Battalion Landing Team and Abu Sayyaf under Raidula Sahiron and Isnilon Hapilon, ...
-
One killed as light plane crashes in southern Philippines
One person was killed and another injured when a light plane used for spraying pesticide over plantations crashed in southern Philippines late on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.Bonifacio Cabansag, 42, a traffic control personnel for banana firm Dole Philippines died after being hit by the company's spray aircraft as it landed on an airstrip in Mapawa village, Maragusan town, in ...
-
Philippines Golan peacekeepers to stay for now
Philippines troops at the Quneitra crossing between Syria and the Israeli annexed Golan Heights last week. The Philippines Wednesday said it would keep its peacekeepers in the Golan Heights until at least August, and may stay longer if the United Nations increased security ...
-
UN US warn of maximum volatility in Golan Heights if Philippine peacekeepers withdraw
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines' top diplomat says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have appealed to Manila not to withdraw more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights to avoid "maximum volatility" in the restive Middle East region. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday the diplomats made the appeal to ...
-
Philippines sends fresh troops to disputed shoal guarded by Chinese ships in new standoff
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has deployed a fresh batch of marines and supplies to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea, where a Chinese warship and surveillance vessels appeared last month and triggered a new standoff in the strategic waters, the Philippine defence secretary said Wednesday. The new contingent of Filipino marines replaced troops at the Second Thomas Shoal, where the ...
-
American predator professor suspected to have abused Filipino children roamed Asia
Mexican authorities have arrested an American professor who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in the resort city of Playa del Carmen. Prosecutor Gaspar Armando Garcia Torres said Walter Lee Williams, 64, (pictured) a former university professor, is wanted on charges of sexual exploitation of children and traveling to Philippines for child sex. Garcia said Williams was ...
-
Embassy execs linked to sex ring ordered back to Manila for probe
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Wednesday said an investigation into the ';sex-for-fly'; scheme involving three Philippine Embassy officials has started as he ordered the trio to come home immediately. Aside from the three, the heads of the country’s embassies in Kuwait, Damascus and ...
-
Tobacco enriches corrupts northern Philippines
This photo taken on May 2, 2013 shows children sorting tobacco leaves for curing at a farm in Currimao town, Ilocos norte province, northern Philippines. Tobacco enriches and corrupts in the dry, sun-drenched northern Philippines, where family fortunes as well as political empires are built on the golden leaf. AFP / TED ALJIBE CANDON CITY, Philippines--Tobacco enriches and corrupts in the dry, ...
-
IHT Rendezvous Sending a Signal Philippines to Destroy Ivory Stock
Workers arrange some of five tons of confiscated ivory at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife center in Quezon city. The tusks will be destroyed Friday to oppose the illegal wildlife trade, Philippines officials ...
-
UPDATE 1-Robinsons Retail plans up to $924 mln Philippine IPO
Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:54am EDT (Adds details on company and Philippine IPO market) * Plans to sell 461.9 mln shares at 86.64 pesos each * Offering is one of the biggest IPOs in Philippines * Manila index down more than 12 pct since mid-May HONG KONG/MANILA, June 19 (Reuters) - Robinsons Retail Group, which operates supermarkets, hardware and department stores in the Philippines, plans to raise up ...
-
Philippine woman detained in police prison for more than 5 years without charge
The Philippine justice secretary Tuesday demanded an investigation after a woman was detained in a police prison for more than five years without charge, in a case likened to the plight of terror suspects languishing in Guantanamo Bay. Joanne Urbina was arrested along with a male suspect after police found 150 grammes of banned stimulants and marijuana at her Manila home on December 14, 2007, ...
-
Manila to stop giving new licences to Spore maid agencies
Singapore maid agencies are being barred from taking out new licences to source for workers in the Philippines in a move by Manila to crack down on firms flouting its rules. The country's embassy will limit the number of licensed companies to the current pool of about 100 and new applications will be rejected. Philippine labour attache Vicente Cabe confirmed that the new policy came into ...
-
Philippines to launch 6-month tourist visa
Foreign visitors who want to extend their vacation in the Philippines may now do so without the usual hassles. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Tuesday that foreigners who would like to stay longer in the country, could avail of a six-month, long-stay tourist visa from the agency. The program is set to be formally launched next week, according to the BI. In a statement, Immigration ...
-
Time running out for Philippine peace talks
Even in ordinary, everyday life, missed deadlines are no trifling matter. When something is not done or delivered or paid for at the agreed-upon time, there are consequences. A student who turns in a late assignment runs the risk of a failing grade. A bounced check can land its issuer in court for estafa. A business supplier unable to produce the required goods under contract faces legal ...
-
Manila road closures due to Rizals birth anniversary
MANILA – Parts of Roxas Boulevard were closed to traffic beginning Wednesday morning as part of the ceremony held at the Rizal Park to commemorate the 152nd birth anniversary of the country’s national hero. According to the Manila Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit, the north and southbound lanes of Roxas Boulevard from T.M. Kalaw to Katigbak was closed at 7 a.m. Authorities ...
-
Embassies accused of sexually exploiting Filipino workers
It's not just foreign employers who are abusing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Even Philippine Embassy officials are allegedly involved in the sexual exploitation of their countrymen--so says Party-list Akbayan Representative Walden Bello. Bello, who chairs the House committee on overseas workers' affairs, on Tuesday said three "predators" from Philippine overseas offices ...
-
Communists junk Philippine govts localised peace talks
The National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has ruled out "localised peace talks", the government's preferred method of negotiations to deal with the decades-old communist insurgency. Luis Jalandoni, the lead negotiator of the NDF peace panel, on Tuesday said the units of the New People's Army (NPA)--the armed wing ...
-
Accused denies misleading Filipino nanny
Nicole Huen and Franco Orr are on trial in B.C. Supreme Court. A prosecutor suggested Tuesday that the Vancouver couple took advantage of a Filipino nanny when they brought her to Canada from Hong ...
News from around our Network
Comments
Have your say