BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities on Sunday shut down two Sunni-run television stations, claiming they had incited violence with their coverage of Saddam Hussein’s sentencing, a government official said. ‘On the orders of the prime minister, we have closed two television channels, Zawra TV and Salaheddin, for inciting violence and murder,’ interior ministry spokesman General Abdel Karim said. ‘We accept debates on any subject, but we do not tolerate television reports that encourage murder and violence,’ he said, without elaborating.
Zawra TV is run by former Sunni lawmaker Mishan Juburi, who was sacked amid corruption allegations. It often runs favourable coverage of the ‘resistance’ fighting the US occupier. Salaheddin operates from Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, and its reports favour ‘liberating Iraq from the occupier’.