Iraqi Council Closes Arab TV Bureau (washingtonpost.com):al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera are the two most popular Arab television networks, and they're considerably more "free" than any of the state-run media in the countries surrounding Iraq.
"The U.S.-appointed Governing Council banned a popular Arab satellite news channel from broadcasting from Iraq and seized equipment from its bureau in Baghdad on Monday after it aired a taped message purportedly from former president Saddam Hussein calling for attacks on Iraqis cooperating with the U.S. occupation.L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator, approved and authorized the move against al-Arabiya, which competes with al-Jazeera as the most influential news channel in both Iraq and the rest of the Arab world, an official with the U.S.-led administration said. Jalal Talabani, the council's current president, announced the order and said legal action against the station may follow."