BIG WAVE
05-09-2007, 10:36 AM
BAGHDAD (AP)--Iraq's Parliament overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to start legal proceedings against Al-Jazeera television over perceived insults by the Arabic news channel against Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The nature of the legal action to be taken by parliament wasn't immediately clear. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab, only said the matter would be decided by parliament's legal department.
The move by the 275-seat house followed protests last Friday in the southern cities of Basra and Najaf by hundreds of Shiites angered by an Al-Jazeera talk show last week in which the host questioned al-Sistani's leadership credentials and appeared to cast doubt on whether he personally authored his edicts.
The controversy has received extensive coverage by the Iraqi media, with some Shiite television channels devoting hours of air time to politicians and clerics expressing their indignation over the perceived insults.
On Sunday, Iran's parliament decided to ban Al-Jazeera reporters from its building in protest.
Al-Jazeera couldn't immediately be reached for comment on parliament's decision, but the station's editor-in-chief has said Ahmed Mansour, the Egyptian host of its flagship program, 'Without Borders,' didn't mean to insult al- Sistani and air time would be given to any Iraqi who wished to address the issue.
Debating the issue before the vote, which was taken by a show of hands, several deputies suggested the Qatar-based network be sued before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for what they said was its role in stoking sectarian strife in Iraq, a charge routinely leveled by Shiite politicians against the station.
Shiite lawmakers took turns Wednesday condemning Al-Jazeera, with some saying its coverage of Iraq made it akin to the media arm of al-Qaida.
"It's a channel that stirs sectarian strife in Iraq and causes blood to be shed as a result," charged senior Shiite lawmaker Waiel Abdul-Lateef.
Criticism by Sunni and Kurdish legislators, however, was muted, with some suggesting the best defense against Al-Jazeera was for Iraqis to put their own house in order.
Responding to calls by some deputies for a boycott of Al-Jazeera by Iraqi politicians, Sunni Arab lawmaker Mahdi Hafez said the station's allegations should be countered by Iraqis appearing on its programs.
In unusually candid comments, lawmaker Safiyah al-Suheil said the root cause of the latest furor over Al-Jazeera was that al-Sistani has been brought into politics.
"(His) council and wisdom are important, but to constantly drag him into our issues is totally objectionable," said al-Suheil who, like Hafez, is a member of a secular bloc in parliament.
The furor over the perceived insults against al-Sistani, who lives in the holy city of Najaf, underlined the reverence Iraq's majority Shiites accord their clergy and questions about whether al-Sistani is meddling in politics or simply offering broad guidelines at a crucial time in the country's history.
There has been no comment so far from al-Sistani, who doesn't grant media interviews, rarely appears in public and communicates his views in edicts. But his representative in the holy city of Karbala told Friday worshippers that Al- Jazeera was trying to drive a wedge between al-Sistani and his followers.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Shiite politicians have accused Al-Jazeera of championing the former leader's rule and the Sunni insurgency. The channel has been banned from operating in Iraq since 2004 and the latest controversy is likely to worsen its already tense relations with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070509\ACQDJON200705091118D OWJONESDJONLINE000849.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na
The nature of the legal action to be taken by parliament wasn't immediately clear. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab, only said the matter would be decided by parliament's legal department.
The move by the 275-seat house followed protests last Friday in the southern cities of Basra and Najaf by hundreds of Shiites angered by an Al-Jazeera talk show last week in which the host questioned al-Sistani's leadership credentials and appeared to cast doubt on whether he personally authored his edicts.
The controversy has received extensive coverage by the Iraqi media, with some Shiite television channels devoting hours of air time to politicians and clerics expressing their indignation over the perceived insults.
On Sunday, Iran's parliament decided to ban Al-Jazeera reporters from its building in protest.
Al-Jazeera couldn't immediately be reached for comment on parliament's decision, but the station's editor-in-chief has said Ahmed Mansour, the Egyptian host of its flagship program, 'Without Borders,' didn't mean to insult al- Sistani and air time would be given to any Iraqi who wished to address the issue.
Debating the issue before the vote, which was taken by a show of hands, several deputies suggested the Qatar-based network be sued before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for what they said was its role in stoking sectarian strife in Iraq, a charge routinely leveled by Shiite politicians against the station.
Shiite lawmakers took turns Wednesday condemning Al-Jazeera, with some saying its coverage of Iraq made it akin to the media arm of al-Qaida.
"It's a channel that stirs sectarian strife in Iraq and causes blood to be shed as a result," charged senior Shiite lawmaker Waiel Abdul-Lateef.
Criticism by Sunni and Kurdish legislators, however, was muted, with some suggesting the best defense against Al-Jazeera was for Iraqis to put their own house in order.
Responding to calls by some deputies for a boycott of Al-Jazeera by Iraqi politicians, Sunni Arab lawmaker Mahdi Hafez said the station's allegations should be countered by Iraqis appearing on its programs.
In unusually candid comments, lawmaker Safiyah al-Suheil said the root cause of the latest furor over Al-Jazeera was that al-Sistani has been brought into politics.
"(His) council and wisdom are important, but to constantly drag him into our issues is totally objectionable," said al-Suheil who, like Hafez, is a member of a secular bloc in parliament.
The furor over the perceived insults against al-Sistani, who lives in the holy city of Najaf, underlined the reverence Iraq's majority Shiites accord their clergy and questions about whether al-Sistani is meddling in politics or simply offering broad guidelines at a crucial time in the country's history.
There has been no comment so far from al-Sistani, who doesn't grant media interviews, rarely appears in public and communicates his views in edicts. But his representative in the holy city of Karbala told Friday worshippers that Al- Jazeera was trying to drive a wedge between al-Sistani and his followers.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Shiite politicians have accused Al-Jazeera of championing the former leader's rule and the Sunni insurgency. The channel has been banned from operating in Iraq since 2004 and the latest controversy is likely to worsen its already tense relations with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070509\ACQDJON200705091118D OWJONESDJONLINE000849.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na