Al Jazeera calls for release of its Afghan journalists

September 12th, 2009 KABUL - NATO said Saturday its forces had to leave behind the dead body of an Afghan journalist to avoid "more casualties" after its airborne operation freed a Western journalist. British soldiers raided a house Tuesday night to free Sultan Munadi, an Afghan reporter, and British-Irish national Stephen Farrell, both working for The New York Times.

September 10th, 2009 KABUL - An association of Afghan journalists Thursday criticised the NATO military operation that resulted in the death of an abducted Afghan reporter earlier this week. NATO troops raided a house Tuesday night to free Sultan Munadi, an Afghan reporter, and British-Irish national Stephen Farrell, both of whom were working for the New York Times newspaper.

September 9th, 2009 KABUL - A New York Times reporter taken captive by the Taliban at the weekend in northern Afghanistan was freed, but his Afghan translator and a civilian were killed in a raid by international forces, a district governor said Wednesday. The troops conducted the raid Tuesday night on the house where the two men were being held in the Chardarah district of Kunduz province, Chardarah Governor Abdul Wahid Omarkhel said.

August 5th, 2009 PYONGYANG - The two American journalists pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il left the country Wednesday aboard a chartered plane carrying the homebound former US president Bill Clinton. Clinton arrived unexpectedly in Pyongyang Tuesday and met the North Korean leader to secure the release of two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were arrested in March for sneaking into the communist country illegally.

August 5th, 2009 Richardson: Freed journalists a win for both sidesWASHINGTON — Gov. Bill Richardson says both the United States and North Korea can cite victory from the high-level talks that sprang two American journalists from jail in the reclusive communist country.

August 5th, 2009 Former President Clinton gratified about releaseWASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton says he's "very happy" that a pair of American journalists have been freed from imprisonment in North Korea. In a statement released from his New York office, Clinton called their plight a "long ordeal," and said he was gratified that they "are now home and reunited with their loved ones." Clinton went to Pyongyang as a private citizen acting as an envoy for the United States to work out a deal to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

July 29th, 2009 Afghan, NATO slam new Taliban code of conductKABUL — A new Taliban code of military conduct that tells fighters to limit suicide attacks and avoid killing civilians is a sham that doesn't reflect the true nature of the insurgents, NATO and Afghan officials said. The code, entitled "Taliban 2009 Rules and Regulations Booklet," is believed to have been published in May and distributed to fighters.

July 16th, 2009 WEST BANK - The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday banned Al-Jazeera television from operating in its territory and threatened legal action over allegations it broadcast against President Mahmoud Abbas. According to The Telegraph, the Palestine information ministry said the Qatar-based Arabic news channel had spread falsehoods and incited viewers against the authorities that run the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

July 15th, 2009 RAMALLAH - The Palestinian Authority (PA) Wednesday shut down the West Bank office of al-Jazeera, amid a storm over allegations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conspired with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to assassinate late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A statement issued by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's office cited incitement against the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the reason for its decision to shut down the Qatar-based Arabic news channel's local office.

June 25th, 2009 DUBAI - The English version of the Qatar-based television news channel Al Jazeera is set to make its first major foray into the US market July 1 through a cable TV company in the Washington DC area. "I can tell you that on July 1 we are going to launch an agreement with a Washington DC-based company that has around 2.3 million subscribers," said Al Jazeera's director general Wadah Khanfar.

June 20th, 2009 Clinton grateful for safe return of NYT reporterWASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is thanking the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan for their assistance in ensuring a New York Times reporter's safe return. David Rohde was abducted Nov.

June 18th, 2009 Gates: Civilian deaths strategic problem in warWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the accidental killing of civilians in Afghanistan has become one of the military's greatest strategic problems in the faltering war. Gates says it will take another day or two before officials release their investigation into an early May battle and airstrikes in which dozens of Afghan civilians were killed.

June 17th, 2009 Karzai defends VP pick criticized by rights groupsKABUL — President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday defended his choice of a former mujahedeen commander as a vice presidential nominee, saying Afghanistan would honor former fighters and he would not be "influenced from outside." Karzai has come under heavy criticism from rights groups and a top U.N. official for his choice of Mohammad Qasim Fahim as one of his two vice presidential nominees.

June 15th, 2009 2 Al-Jazeera producers arrested in AfghanistanKABUL — Al-Jazeera called for the immediate release of two of its Afghan producers after they were arrested by Afghan intelligence agents. The network said it has been unable to contact them.

June 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Monday called on North Korea to release two US women journalists who were held for illegally entering that country on humanitarian grounds. "We call on the North Korean authorities to release the two young ladies, allow them to be reunited with their families, and we're very, very focused on that right now," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.