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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Subject: </th>
<td>[E-intl] Egypt blocks Al-Jazeera transmissions, orders
bureaus shut</td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:08:06 -0800</td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>Katitza Rodriguez <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:katitza@eff.org"><katitza@eff.org></a></td>
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<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:katitza@eff.org">katitza@eff.org</a></td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Organization:
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<td>EFF</td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td>EFF International <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:eff-intl@eff.org"><eff-intl@eff.org></a></td>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://cpj.org//2011/01/egypt-blocks-al-jazeera-transmissions-orders-burea.php">https://cpj.org//2011/01/egypt-blocks-al-jazeera-transmissions-orders-burea.php</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">New York, January 30, 2011<b>--</b>Nilesat,
the satellite transmission company owned by the Egyptian Radio
and Television Union and other government agencies, has
stopped transmitting the signal of Al-Jazeera's primary
channel, the station and others reported today. The Committee
to Protect Journalists condemns the actions of Egyptian
authorities to disrupt media coverage by Al-Jazeera and calls
on them to reverse the decision immediately. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Shortly before 11 a.m., Al-Jazeera
announced on the air that Anas al-Fiqi, information minister
in the cabinet that was dismissed on Friday, had ordered the
offices of all Al-Jazeera bureaus in Egypt shut down and the
accreditation of all network journalists revoked. The official
Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported that the order was to
take effect on Sunday, and transmissions originating from
Egypt ceased within an hour of the announcement. The
discharged information minister ordered "the relevant
government agencies to take the immediate legal measures
necessary to revoke the licenses for live satellite
transmission equipment (S.N.G.) and fiber optic cables or any
other means of communication provided to Al-Jazeera," MENA
reported.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"The shutting down of Al-Jazeera is a
brazen violation of the fundamental right of Egyptians to
receive information as their country is in turmoil," said
Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ Middle East and North Africa program
coordinator. "The international community should prevail upon
President Mubarak to lift this censorship immediately."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today is the sixth day of massive street
demonstrations in which citizens had been demanding political,
social, and economic reforms, though demonstrators are now
calling for the complete removal of Mubarak's
three-decade-long regime. On Thursday, authorities suspended
Internet and mobile phone service, according to news
reports and mobile operators, in an effort to disrupt
communications between protesters as well as transmission of
news. On Saturday, mobile phone services were restored to a
large degree, according to local journalists and press freedom
advocates who spoke to CPJ.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Internet connectivity, a vital resource for
local journalists and those reporting from Egypt to the rest
of the world, continues to be almost non-existent in Egypt,
with more than 90 percent of connections to the wider Internet
shut down. CPJ research indicates that this is a deliberate,
coordinated result of Egyptian government orders to local
Internet service providers. CPJ urges the government to
rescind any such directives and order the restoration of
Egypt's connections with the outside world.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Both Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera English
continued to report today on Egypt from other locations. CPJ
research shows that viewers outside Egypt can now view the
network's Arabic channel only on the Hotbird satellite or
other satellites not controlled by Egyptian authorities. But
at least two individuals in Egypt who spoke to the channel's
anchor on air reported that they could not view the channel
even on non-state satellites, an indication that authorities
may be jamming those transmissions. As of 1 p.m. local time,
Al-Jazeera English's broadcast remained on Nilesat. Al-Jazeera
Mubasher, the network's live news channel, which had been
transmitting live footage from Egypt's streets was taken off
Nilesat on Thursday.</p>
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