The United States national security adviser Monday denied that Washington wanted Al Jazeera shut down but assailed the Arab satellite television for "purely inaccurate" reports.
"I don’t think anybody has suggested the shutting down of Al Jazeera," Condoleezza Rice told reporters a day before a summit of leaders from wealthy nations plus Russia was to get underway.
"I do think people have suggested that it would be a good thing if the reporting were accurate on Al Jazeera, and if it were not slanted in ways that appears to be, at times, just purely inaccurate," she said.
Rice did not confirm or deny a New York Times report that Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was not invited to the Group of Eight summit as a snub for not cracking down on Al Jazeera.
Washington has been critical of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the war in Afghanistan and especially the occupation of Iraq, with officials charging that the network "incites violence" against US soldiers. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
