April 4, 2003	Friday	Safar 1, 1424

KUWAIT, April 3: Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite television said on Thursday Iraq had barred two of its correspondents from reporting from Baghdad and that the network was halting the work of all its journalists in Iraq in protest.

The Iraqi government gave no reason for its action against the Arabic-language station, which has been criticised by the United States and Britain for beaming distressing pictures.

“The Iraqi Information Ministry informed al-Jazeera’s office in Baghdad that its correspondent there, Diyar al-Omari, was banned from performing his journalistic work and that its correspondent Tayseer Alouni must leave Iraq as soon as possible without giving any reasons for the decision,” Jazeera said.

“Al Jazeera regrets this surprising and sudden stand which is not justified and has decided, until further notice, to freeze the operations of all its correspondents in Iraq while continuing to transmit live and taped images from its offices in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul,” it added.—Reuters