April 8, 2002	Monday	Muharram 24, 1423

TEL AVIV, April 7: Israeli police on Saturday detained an American journalist working for an Arab satellite channel after Israel accused his station of one-sided coverage of Israel’s army incursions into the West Bank, witnesses said.

They said border policemen and policemen in civilian clothes took away Jassem al-Azzawi, an anchor with Abu Dhabi television who holds U.S. citizenship, from Jerusalem’s American Colony Hotel and were taking him to the airport for deportation.

Government press office director Daniel Seaman declined to comment.

Seaman earlier this week informed Azzawi, who had arrived in Jerusalem on an assignment, that his credentials were revoked, accusing Abu Dhabi television of “incitement” against Israel.

Israel also suspended the credentials of Abu Dhabi Television’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Laila Odeh, she said.

Odeh said Seaman cited the station’s coverage of five Palestinian policemen found shot dead at a building in Ramallah after Israeli soldiers occupied the West Bank city on March 29.

Journalists have accused Israel of trying to impose a news blackout on its military sweep into Palestinian cities and towns handed over to the Palestinian Authority under a 1993 self-rule deal.—Reuters