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Syria sent death threats, say Al Arabiya staff
DUBAI — Syrian intelligence sent death threats to Al Arabiya television after it aired an interview with UN chief Kofi Annan in which he urged Syria to withdraw from Lebanon by April, a source at the station said yesterday. "There were death threats against Arabiya's staff in Beirut by the Syrians," the source said, referring to Syrian intelligence. Syrian officials were not immediately available to comment.
Is a comment really necessary?
The Dubai-based Arabic station said the threats accompanied criticism of the channel in the Syrian state-run daily Tishreen, which it described as lies aimed at smearing its image. "Al Arabiya expresses its extreme concern over Tishreen newspaper's method in accusing the television of treachery," the station said in a statement. Al Arabiya said it had aired the interview with Annan in full and without interpretation or exaggeration. In it, UN Secretary-General Annan urged Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon by April, when he is due to present a report on the situation to the Security Council.

In a front-page article on Saturday, Tishreen accused Al Arabiya of ignoring later remarks by a UN spokesman who stressed Annan had not been setting a deadline. "This incident along with many other incidents raise dozens of questions about the mission of this station and the bodies that run and finance it," Tishreen said about the majority Saudi-owned station, which is seen by Arab radicals as pro-Western.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-02-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=57620