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05/15/07
Iraqi police fire in air to keep photographers
and camera operators from bombing site
By KIM GAMEL
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Police fired warning shots in the air at the
scene of a double bombing Tuesday, enforcing an order banning
news photographers and TV camera operators from filming the
aftermath of deadly bombings.
The Iraqi government said it decided last weekend to keep
photographers and camera crews away from blast sites to prevent
them from damaging forensic evidence. Media groups feared
the order was aimed at preventing scenes of horrific carnage
from being broadcast around the world.
The ban got its first test Tuesday, when a pair of bombs hidden
in plastic bags exploded in two shops selling CDs and cigarettes
in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad. Police said at least
seven people were killed and 17 wounded.
News photographers and cameraman rushed to the scene only
to be turned away by Iraqi police, who fired warning shots
in the air to disperse the crowds.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf
defended the decision and said it would only last for an hour
after the explosion.
He said the move was not designed to curtail press freedom
but to protect evidence and the privacy of the wounded. He
also said the government wanted to keep insurgents from filming
the scene for use in propaganda videos.
"I would like to say that this is not a total ban. It
is a short ban because after one hour from the explosion,
journalists will have the freedom to do their work,"
he added, saying the ban was nationwide and would include
the state-run TV station Iraqiya.
Iraqi and U.S. authorities have frequently complained that
the publicity surrounding car bombings and suicide attacks
is jeopardizing their efforts to stop the violence, which
has proven unrelenting as Sunni insurgents adopt new tactics
to evade stepped-up security measures.
Reporters Without Borders expressed concern about the decision,
saying it "feared that growing restrictions on the media
could end in a total news blackout."
The international advocacy group stressed the importance of
the images in providing an accurate assessment of the toll
the violence is taking on Iraqi lives as well as the security
situation in the capital, where movement is severely limited.
"When the streets become impassable and the authorities
provide no information about the attacks in real time, the
role of the reporter becomes essential. Coverage of these
attacks allows people to evaluate the security risk and to
avoid dangerous areas," it said.
Shihab al-Tamimi, the head of the Iraqi Journalists Union,
said he understood the Interior Ministry's concerns.
"But at the same time, the security forces should give
more understanding to the work of journalists. The journalists
have a job to do and they should be able to do it if it does
not break a law. For example, if a photographer is after a
picture at the explosion site, that does not make him a propagandist
for insurgents," al-Tamimi said.
Iraqi authorities often have been criticized for imposing
media restrictions since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted
Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In August 2004, the government closed the Baghdad news office
of Al-Jazeera television, accusing the station of inciting
violence. The office is still closed but the station operates
in the Kurdish-ruled area of the north.
Reporters Without Borders also noted that the Iraqi parliament
voted May 9 to take legal action against Al-Jazeera over perceived
insults against top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
In December 2006, parliament also briefly banned journalists
from covering its sessions.
Earlier this month, Freedom House, a nonprofit organization
that describes itself as a "clear voice for democracy
and freedom around the world," cited the Iraqi government
for retaining repressive laws from Saddam's era and for the
detentions of journalists without charge.
___
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed
to this report.
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