DOHA, Qatar, March 23 (UPI) -- Qatar-based al-Jazeera Arabic news channel says it regrets the Somali government's measure to close down its office in Mogadishu.
The government Thursday ordered the closure of the popular Arab channel's office without giving reason, al-Jazeera said.
The network's general manager, Waddah Khanfar, said in a statement Friday al-Jazeera "regrets this decision and we stick to the principles of free media and our defense of the right of viewers to know what is happening in the different countries in the world with all objectivity."
Khanfar vowed the news channel will continue covering the events in Somalia using other sources, "just as we did previously when other governments closed" down al-Jazeera offices.
The independent channel has been banned from working in several Arab countries at different times for what they see as the network's news coverage and incitement of political issues that were regarded as taboo for decades in the Arab world. Its offices in Baghdad have been shut down and deprived of covering events in war-torn Iraq since the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
While the Somali government gave no reason for its decision against al-Jazeera, it is believed to be linked to the channel's coverage and analysis of the war in the country.
