The chief of the Tehran bureau of Al-Arabiya TV said on Tuesday that Iranian authorities have demanded his departure from the country. "In a telephone call with the foreign press bureau of the Iranian culture ministry I was informed of my definitive exit from Iran," bureau chief Hassan al-Fahs told AFP.
"They told me the decision was taken due to the policies of the network and the work record of our Tehran bureau," he said.
Iranian state radio said that students from 10 universities had called for the closure of the offices of the Saudi-owned channel. "This demand came after this network, which is linked with hardline Saudi movements, broadcast a a film insulting Imam (Ruhollah) Khomeini, the founder of Islamic revolution, and Shiite beliefs," the radio added.
A prominent Iranian MP had warned last month about the future of the network in the Islamic republic, according to the official IRNA news agency. "If the Al-Arabiya network is to continue with its hostile stances against the people and the government of the Islamic republic, there is no need for its reporter to freely work in Iran," the head of parliament's foreign policy and national security committee, Alaeddin Borujerdi was quoted as saying.
Last month, Al Arabiya aired a report about plans for an Egyptian film called "Imam of Blood" that would criticize Khomeini. It said Mohamed Hassan al-Alfi, a member of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, was writing a script for the movie which would argue that Khomeini's ideology was behind the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
