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"FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" AT ITS BEST
Aljazeera
sacks Yvonne Riddley
Sister Yvonne Ridley, a senior editor with
Aljazeera’s
newly launched English website in Doha, Qatar,
has been sacked by her Gulf bosses
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Sister Yvonne Ridley
, a senior editor with
Aljazeera’s
newly launched English website in Doha,
Qatar, has been
sacked
by her Gulf bosses.
The journalist, who rose to international fame in September 2001 when she
was captured by the Taliban in
Afghanistan,
joined the website in July.
Last night Sister Yvonne said she was bewildered and hurt but until she had
written confirmation of being fired and the reasons why, she was unable to
comment further.
In the last two years Yvonne has become an international peace campaigner
and anti-war activist sharing platform with high profile personalities
including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, British politicians George Galloway and
Tony Benn,
Palestinian
activist Leila Khaled, and Ahmed Ben Bella, former Algerian President and
revolutionary leader.
Her
anti-Bush
views are universally known and there are fears among colleagues that her
vocal criticisms of the war in
Iraq
and Afghanistan may have led to her demise.
Exclusive stories and pictures revealing
US
soldiers searching and tying up Iraqi and Afghani children have been
condemned by the US Central Command. 'It is not beyond the bounds of
possibility that Ridley's revealing stories have led to her downfall.
The site has already pulled two anti-American caricatures after managers
received pressure from the Americans,' said one source close to Aljazeera.
The man responsible for sacking Sister Yvonne is Abdulaziz Ibrahim Al-Mahmoud
who issued the order but did not have the guts to confront her with it,
instead he sent his secretary to deliver the news to Sister Yvonne's home
in Doha.
Al-Mahmoud is not a big fan of hers after she derided him for shopping in
Marks and Spencer during a recent trip to London with his eager-to-please
sidekick Ahmed Sheikh. Marks and Spencer is the famous
Israel-supporting
shop which is
boycotted
by many Muslims in the UK!
In recent weeks Al Mahmoud has escorted two parties from the US embassy
around the offices of Aljazeera, giving Sister Yvonne's work station a wide
berth because of its anti-war and anti Bush messages as well as a
Palestinian flag situated there prominently!
The regime in Saudi
Arabia
has also not escaped Sister Yvonne’s attention - something not lost on
Al-Mahmoud who was refused entry to the Kingdom recently.
But who is Yvonne Ridley?!
Yvonne Ridley was a journalist of the famous
Londoner Mirror newspaper.
She was captured by the Taliban when she went undercover into the country
wearing the all-enveloping burqa dress of an Afghan woman.
She was detected and was held for 10 days before being released on
humanitarian grounds on the orders of Mulla Umar.
Her outspoken views are welknown,
especially those praising and supporting Palestinian martyrdom operations.
She has endeared herself to the Muslim world and is a recent convert to
Islam. Sister Yvonne has devoted much of her spare time and energy to
helping brothers and sisters around the world.
Now it is OUR turn to stand staunchly by her side.
At least we should demand answers from Aljazeera as to why she was sacked.
What you can do……..
Email: Mr. Jihad Ballout, the spokesman for Aljazeera on
jballout@aljazeera.net
with your questions.
cc: copy to the Yanky-loving,
Zionist
weasel who started it all .... Al-Mahmoud, chief editor on
chiefnet@aljazeera.net
cc: to his ever-loyal sidekick pseudo Palestinian and armchair jihadi
ahmedsh@aljazeera.net
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Dr. Muhammad Al-Massari
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2003-11-27 Thu 16:14ct