Egypt Closes al-Jazeera Bureau

Yanks licenses of breakout station
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 30, 2011 9:20 AM CST
Egypt Closes al-Jazeera Bureau
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appears on television saying he has asked his Cabinet to resign, in his first appearance since protests erupted demanding his ouster.   (AP Photo/Egypt TV)

Egypt isn't messing around with al-Jazeera anymore, announcing on state-run television today that it's closing the network's Cairo bureau and revoking its license to broadcast from the country. Al-Jazeera has pledged to continue its coverage, but it's unclear what form that will take, notes AP. "The information minister ordered ... suspension of operations of al-Jazeera, canceling of its licenses and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," the official Mena news agency said.

"Al-Jazeera has received widespread global acclaim for their coverage on the ground across the length and breadth of Egypt," countered a statement from the network, calling the move "designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists." Click here and here to read more about al-Jazeera's coverage of the Egyptian crisis. Its round-the-clock live feed has been running from here.
(More al-Jazeera stories.)

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