Unknown Islamist group claims Al-Arabiya car-bomb

In a videotape broadcast on Al-Arabiya, the Thaourat Al-Ichrine Brigades (1920 Revolution Brigades) have denied any involvement in the 30 October car-bombing of Al-Arabiya's Baghdad bureau. But an unknown Islamist group calling itself "Saraya Al-Chouhada Al Jihadiya fil Iraq" (Jihadist Martyrs Brigade in Iraq) claimed responsibility in a statement published on the Internet on 31 October. It said it attacked the pan-Arab TV station "because it has insisted on praising (Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad) Allawi's government and the criminal Americans, describing them as the liberators" of Iraq, and because it "pretends to be unaware of the heroic mujahideen operations." The statement's authenticity has not been confirmed. -------------------------------- 02.11.2004 Seven dead in car bombing in front of Al-Arabiya television Seven people were killed when a car bomb exploded in a car park opposite Al-Arabiya television in Baghdad on 30 October, five of them employed by the station. Fourteen staff members were injured, seven of them journalists. Those who died were: security guards Ali Adnan and Nabil Hussein, kitchen assistants Ramziya Moushee and Alahin Hussein and computer engineer Hassan Alwan. The bombing also caused very serious damage, destroying or damaging 80 per cent of the station's equipment, but the station has continued broadcasting. "This car bombing has minimized our output and has slowed our movement but it has not stopped us", bureau chief in Baghdad Haidar Al-Wattar told Reporters Without Borders. --------------------------------------------- 30.10.2004 Car bomb outside TV station shows contempt for press freedom A car bomb yesterday outside the Baghdad office of the pan-Arab TV station Al-Arabiya that left seven dead and at least 19 wounded, including employees of the station, was condemned as "criminal" by Reporters Without Borders today. "This attack is further evidence of the contempt that the parties to the conflict display for press freedom, without which there will be no democracy or lasting peace in Iraq," the organisation said. It called for a thorough investigation both to identify and punish those responsible, and to establish whether the TV station was the intended target. Reporters Without Borders said Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and news media assistants. At least 45 have been killed since the start of the war and two others are missing. French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot and their driver Mohamed Al-Joundi have been held by the Islamic Army in Iraq for the past 73 days. The chief of Al-Arabiya's Baghdad bureau, Haidar Al-Wattar, said five of his employees were missing and could have been among those killed. Twelve of the 19 people so far reported injured were also believed to be Al-Arabiya employees. The car bomb, which went off in the parking lot outside the Al-Arabiya's offices, caused massive damage to the building, which also houses the bureaux of the Arab TV stations MBC and Al-Ekhbariyah. Both the Iraqi interior minister and Al-Arabiya said a suicide bomber may have been inside the car that exploded. By late yesterday, it was still unclear if Al-Arabiya was the target. Responsibility for the bombing was nonetheless claimed by a group called the Thaourat Al-Ichrine Brigades (1920 Revolution Brigades) in a statement saying: "The building collapsed on the spies, the Americanized journalists... mouthpiece of the US occupation." But it was not known if the statement, posted on a website, was authentic. Al-Arabiya director Abdulrahman Al-Rashed rejected the allegation of a pro-US bias. On the contrary, the station was a "victim of its neutrality," he said, pointing out that three of its journalists have been killed by US gunfire. He said the station would not be intimidated and would continue to work in Baghdad. With headquarters in Dubai, Al-Arabiya is largely financed by Saudi capital.