Iraqi prime minister blasts Arab media

LONDON, June 29 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari lashed out at Arab media, accusing them of being biased and hostile to his country.

Speaking in an interview with the London-based Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat, Jaafari said, "Arab media are still hostile and biased, especially the satellite Arab televisions."

He stressed that "Iraq is a country that has been stolen away for decades ... and is now being returned to the Iraqis, but destroyed."

Jaafari accused the remnants of the ousted Baath regime of Saddam Hussein of destroying Iraq. "They say either they will rule Iraq again or they will burn it," he said.