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Al-Jazeera Returns to Kabul, Reporter Claims Physical Abuse
DUBAI, Nov 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television station's director said the channel was planning to return to Kabul in force.
"We have a new team led by three journalists who are en route at this moment for Pakistan from where they hope to go into Afghanistan," said director-general Mohamma Jassem al-Ali, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"For the time being, Al-Jazeera is covering Afghanistan thanks to the foreign press agencies," he said. "But we are in Afghanistan also thanks to Afghan journalists," equipped with a videophone by the station, Ali added.
Meanwhile, an Al-Jazeera reporter, propelled to fame by the Afghan crisis, said on Wednesday that he narrowly escaped a U.S. missile strike on his office in Kabul only to be shot at and beaten by angry anti-Taliban forces.
Tayseer Allouni, Kabul correspondent for Al-Jazeera, reappeared on screens around the Arab world two days after fleeing Kabul, fearing that a collapse in Taliban authority would trigger mob violence.
"My experience has been bitter...I can't speak about it," said Allouni. The Syrian-born newsman is seen by U.S. officials as an admirer of the Taliban and by Arab fans as a lone voice against the U.S.-led bombing of Afghanistan, reported the Pakistani daily,
Dawn.
"We have seen things I never dreamt of seeing," he added. "What I saw is indescribable. I confess I am psychologically shocked."
Allouni became a celebrity in the Arab world with his reports from Kabul because, until a few days ago, the widely watched Al-Jazeera was the only television channel allowed by the Taliban to broadcast from Kabul during the crisis.
Allouni said that minutes after he and his crew left the city on Monday, Al-Jazeera's offices there were hit by a U.S. missile. Later, fleeing to the eastern province of Paktia, he claimed they were harassed, shot at and beaten up by anti-Taliban forces.
The circumstances of the U.S. strike were not clear.
"It seems that few minutes after we left, the office was bombed by American planes," Allouni said. "I don't know the extent of the damage, but from what I was told...I assume it was a mistake."
His team was in for more shocks as they moved through the Afghan countryside. There they encountered an angry group of men before being rescued by neutral Afghans in Paktia,
Dawn reported.
He reported to Al-Jazeera viewers from Paktia that the Taliban had quit the province and that local people formed a ruling council there until the fate of the country became clear.
"We had a big problem that endangered our lives...There was a barrier manned by irresponsible young people, who opened fire on us, took our car, stripped us of everything we had and searched our pockets," said Allouni.
"Then these men [rescuers] came and returned our car and all our belongings and apologized for what we had gone through," he added, "in terms of humiliation and beating."
Allouni did not say why he thought his team had been attacked. But a number of Arabs in Afghanistan have been killed this week following the collapse of Taliban rule by anti-Taliban forces taking revenge for years of support for the Taliban from Arab Muslim volunteers.
Allouni said without elaborating that he and his team remained in danger despite having some protection from their rescuers. He said he had been instructed by his bosses to flee Kabul if the prospect of a Taliban withdrawal from the city or a collapse resulted in a dangerous situation.
Al-Jazeera frustrated the United States last month by broadcasting pre-taped speeches of Osama bin Laden and leading members of his al-Qaeda organization.
The U.S. complained to the Qatari government about the channel, saying it hoped it would soften its coverage.
However, Qatar's outspoken foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, said such a demand would be rejected.
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