Jordan accused of censorship

[cal04]

Jordan accused of censorship after security agents seize al-Jazeera tape
· Confiscated interview was critical of US and Saudis
· TV channel protests at gag on media freedom

Jordan's pro-western government is embroiled in an embarrassing row with al-Jazeera television after Amman confiscated the videotape of an interview in which the former crown prince attacked the United States and Saudi Arabia for pursuing "destructive" Middle East policies.

The Qatar-based satellite channel protested at an infringement of media freedoms after its Beirut bureau chief, Ghassan Ben Jeddou, filmed an interview with Prince Hassan, uncle of King Abdullah and previous heir to the throne, for the channel's Open Dialogue programme.

Prince Hassan was asked about allegations in a recent article by the New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh, suggesting that the US and Saudi Arabia were bankrolling Sunni Muslim groups - some with links to al-Qaida - to counterbalance the weight of Hizbullah, the Shia political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon and backed by Iran and Syria. The prince is said to have commented, characteristically: "If this is true, we have a big problem."

But even this anodyne response was deemed too explosive for an Arab audience. The 60-year-old prince is an engaging and highly articulate intellectual who is active on the international conference circuit, but no longer has any real power.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2063416,00.html