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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Al-Qaeda TV goes to bat for Alouni |
| 2005-09-30 |
| Al-Qaeda has put out a special edition of its new weekly 'news programme', which aired for the first time last week, dedicated to the jailing of Al Jazeera journalist Taysir Allouni. The programme, called Sout al-Khalifa [Voice of the Caliphate], was broadcast over the Internet on Wednesday night, two days after a Madrid court sentenced Syrian-born Allouni to seven years in prison for 'collaboration with a terrorist organisation'. "A news flash which reached us a short time ago from the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera," the 'news reader' says, "reports that the Spanish court has processed our brother Taysir Allouni, sentencing him to seven years in prison, and for this reason Sout al-Khalifa has issued a statement on the Internet in which it strongly condemns this action by the Spanish infidel crusader court against the Muslim journalist Taysir Allouni, correspondent of Qatar's Al Jazeera TV. The statement offers complete solidarity with our brother Allouni for the injustice he has suffered in the course of his work." The newsreader also praised Allouni for the "truth and neutrality" of his reporting. The video lasts just over a minute and a half and shows a man with his face covered reading the news with a small picture of the former Al Jazeera journalist over his shoulder, in the style of many TV news programmes. Unlike the first edition of the news bulletin, there is no Kalashnikov or copy of the Koran on the desk of the man presenting the 'special edition'. Al-Jazeera has vowed to appeal against the jail sentence given to Allouni and immediately issued a statement after the sentencing, saying "We still believe that our colleague Taysir is innocent of the charges against him." Allouni, a father of five, became famous as the satellite channel's correspondent in Kabul during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. He also interviewed Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks in 2001. He was found guilty of helping finance al-Qaeda by acting as a courier for the group while reporting in Afghanistan. He was one of 24 defendents on trial in Madrid's National Court accused of belonging to the al-Qaeda network. Three faced charges of being linked to the September 11 attacks. Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the man considered the al-Qaeda 'ringleader' in Spain, was sentenced to 27 years in prison, six were acquitted and Allouni was one of 17 defendants given jail sentences of between 6 and 11 years. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |