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By msnbc.com staff and news services
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi regulatory body has ordered the closure of 44 media outlets in the country including the BBC and Voice of America in a dispute over broadcast licenses, sources with knowledge of the order said on Sunday. However, no action was immediately taken.
Other organizations targeted for shutdown include privately-owned local TV channels Sharqiya and Baghdadia as well as U.S.-financed Radio Sawa.
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A senior source at the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the body responsible for the order, said the move had nothing to do with the way the outlets had reported on sectarian conflict in the country, as some reports have suggested.
US forces formally ended their nine-year war in Iraq with a low-key flag ceremony in Baghdad on Thursday. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
"The CMC sent such a letter warning them that they're going to shut down their services because they didn't pay (their license fees)," a senior source at the CMC told Reuters.
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The regulator had passed its order to the Baghdad operations command, the source added, referring to the local law enforcement forces who would carry out the closures.
"This is totally wrong and unwise as it comes at a time when the country is plunged into political uncertainty," Ziyad al-Aajely, head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, said.
Saddam's Iraq is gone, but in its place is a state with close ties to one of America's biggest and most unpredictable enemies: Iran. NBC's Richard Engel has been covering the war from the start, and went back for this historic week to take a closer look at the Iran connection.
"What we are confident of is that the decision was not political, but its negative implications will definitely have political implications on the government and harm the reputation of Iraq as a free country," he added.
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In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he called the move "a government message to the media outlets that if you are not with us, then you are against us."
'Technicalities'
The BBC said it was negotiating the renewal of its license with the Iraqi authorities.
Follow @msnbc_world"The delay is due to technicalities," it said in a statement. "The BBC's journalists in Baghdad are not currently experiencing any issues reporting from the country, and it is important that the BBC and other international news organizations are able to operate freely and bring independent and impartial news to audiences in Iraq and the wider region."
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Some of the outlets on the list no longer operate bureaux in Iraq.
However, Radio Sawa, the U.S.-funded station operated by Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., told The Associated Press that it does have a license despite being on the shutdown list.
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"We were surprised to see our radio station on the list because we think that we work in accordance with all Iraqi laws," Sawa deputy director Salah Nasrawi said according to the AP. He added that "bureaucracy and the delays in the government offices might be behind this."
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By msnbc.com staff and news services
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi regulatory body has ordered the closure of 44 media outlets in the country including the BBC and Voice of America in a dispute over broadcast licenses, sources with knowledge of the order said on Sunday. However, no action was immediately taken.
Other organizations targeted for shutdown include privately-owned local TV channels Sharqiya and Baghdadia as well as U.S.-financed Radio Sawa.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A senior source at the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), the body responsible for the order, said the move had nothing to do with the way the outlets had reported on sectarian conflict in the country, as some reports have suggested.
US forces formally ended their nine-year war in Iraq with a low-key flag ceremony in Baghdad on Thursday. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
"The CMC sent such a letter warning them that they're going to shut down their services because they didn't pay (their license fees)," a senior source at the CMC told Reuters.
Advertise | AdChoicesAt least 70 killed during religious festival as bombers target Iraq pilgrims, cops
The regulator had passed its order to the Baghdad operations command, the source added, referring to the local law enforcement forces who would carry out the closures.
"This is totally wrong and unwise as it comes at a time when the country is plunged into political uncertainty," Ziyad al-Aajely, head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, said.
Saddam's Iraq is gone, but in its place is a state with close ties to one of America's biggest and most unpredictable enemies: Iran. NBC's Richard Engel has been covering the war from the start, and went back for this historic week to take a closer look at the Iran connection.
"What we are confident of is that the decision was not political, but its negative implications will definitely have political implications on the government and harm the reputation of Iraq as a free country," he added.
'Guiding and financing terrorist attacks': Interpol issues alert for Iraq's vice president
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he called the move "a government message to the media outlets that if you are not with us, then you are against us."
'Technicalities'
The BBC said it was negotiating the renewal of its license with the Iraqi authorities.
Follow @msnbc_world"The delay is due to technicalities," it said in a statement. "The BBC's journalists in Baghdad are not currently experiencing any issues reporting from the country, and it is important that the BBC and other international news organizations are able to operate freely and bring independent and impartial news to audiences in Iraq and the wider region."
Saddam regime's fugitive 'king of clubs' appears in new video?
Some of the outlets on the list no longer operate bureaux in Iraq.
However, Radio Sawa, the U.S.-funded station operated by Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., told The Associated Press that it does have a license despite being on the shutdown list.
US Embassy in Iraq facing cuts amid ongoing violence
"We were surprised to see our radio station on the list because we think that we work in accordance with all Iraqi laws," Sawa deputy director Salah Nasrawi said according to the AP. He added that "bureaucracy and the delays in the government offices might be behind this."
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
