October 26, 2002	Saturday	Sha’aban 19,1423

DUBAI, Oct 25: Iraq has decided to expel CNN correspondents, including Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf, after complaining about the US news channel’s reporting, particularly its coverage of a recent protest, CNN said on Friday.

Arraf, a Canadian national, and five other non-Iraqi CNN staff members, including correspondents Nic Robertson and Rym Brahimi, were told to leave the country by Monday, CNN said on its website.

Ms Arraf is the only Western correspondent permanently based in Baghdad, where CNN has maintained a bureau for 12 years, it said.

The US network said Baghdad’s decision to expel its reporters and to “enact tough visa restrictions for admitting foreign newspeople in the future ... follows Iraqi government complaints about the reporting of several foreign journalists on assignment in the country.”—AFP