DUBAI, Aug 8 (AFP) - The one-month forced closure of the Baghdad offices of Al-Jazeera television is "a serious blow to press freedom," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Sunday.
The Paris-based media watchdog demanded "an immediate explanation" for the move on Saturday, adding: "We are extremely concerned about persistent episodes of censorship in Iraq."
RSF noted that Iraqi authorities had "obstructed Al-Jazeera's work before ... with a month-long ban in February on Al-Jazeera covering the activities of the then transitional (Iraqi) Governing Council.
"The Council had also shut down the local operations of the satellite TV station Al-Arabiya on 24 November last year until it promised in writing not to encourage terrorism," it added.
The caretaker Iraqi government ordered the Doha-based news channel Al-Jazeera to close its offices in Baghdad for 30 days, accusing it of inciting violence.
Al-Jazeera later issued a statement on its website expressing "regret for the unjustified move," which it argued "was contrary to pledges made by the Iraqi government to start a new era of free speech and openness."
The channel also aired a report on US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accusing Al-Jazeera and the other main Arab news channel Al-Arabiya of harming the image of the United States in the Arab world.
Al-Jazeera has frequently been accused by US and Iraqi authorities of inciting violence by screening "exclusive" videotapes from Muslim extremists, including Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.