Syria bills Arab broadcast ban "political"

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described a recent decision by the Arab League asking Arabsat and Nilesat to halt the broadcast of Syrian TV satellite channels as "an unprecedented political decision. The ministry said in a letter to the Head of the UN Security Council and the Secretary General of the UN and the UN General Assembly that it flagrantly contradicts the principles of the freedom of the press and the document regulating the Arab satellite broadcasting. "It also runs counter to the sixth item of the plan of the international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan," the letter added. "This unprecedented political decision blatantly contradicts the principles of the freedom of press and the document regulating the Arab satellite broadcasting adopted by the Arab Information Ministers in 2008," the Ministry said. It added that the Arab decision breaches the principles of journalism and contradicts the freedom of access to information approved by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva in 2003 and the UN Information Committee. However, the Ministry reiterated commitment to Annan's plan concerning the entry of media outlets to Syria, highlighting the necessity for international bodies to take suitable stances towards the Arab decision as it constitutes a flagrant violation of the freedom of information and an attempt to stop the Syrian national media.