DAMASCUS: Syria’s information ministry said on Saturday it had canceled the accreditation of two local journalists working for Britain’s BBC over what it said was “false” and “politicized” coverage.
The accreditations of an unidentified correspondent and camera operator have been revoked following “subjective and false information and reports” on Syria, the ministry said on its website. It described other BBC reports as “politicized.”
Contacted by Reuters, the BBC said its Arabic news service provided impartial and independent reporting by speaking to people across the political spectrum.
“We will continue to provide impartial news and information to our audiences across the Arabic-speaking world,” it said.
Syria’s information ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for additional information on Saturday, which is not a working day in the country.
Syria, ravaged by conflict since 2011, ranks 175 out of 180 on a press freedom index compiled by Reporters’ Without Borders. The government and other authorities impose strict limits on media coverage and require accreditations and permissions to report.
The BBC published a report last month on what it said were “direct links” between the trade of an amphetamine known as captagon and the family of President Bashar Assad, as well as the Syrian military.
Syria has denied playing a role in the captagon trade.
The United States, Britain and European Union have blamed Syria’s government for the production and export of the drug, naming Maher Assad — the head of the army’s Fourth Division and the president’s brother — as a key figure.
Syria cancels accreditation of two BBC journalists
https://arab.news/zhxr5
Syria cancels accreditation of two BBC journalists
- Syria, ravaged by conflict since 2011, ranks 175 out of 180 on a press freedom index
Pioneering Asharq Al-Awsat journalist Mohammed al-Shafei dies at 74
- Egyptian was known for his fearless coverage of terrorist, extremist groups
- One of handful of reporters to interview Taliban leader Mullah Omar in 1970s
LONDON: Mohammed al-Shafei, one of Asharq Al-Awsat’s most prominent journalists, has died at the age of 74 after a 40-year career tackling some of the region’s thorniest issues.
Born in Egypt in 1951, al-Shafei earned a bachelor’s degree from Cairo University in 1974 before moving to the UK, where he studied journalism and translation at the University of Westminster and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
He began his journalism career at London-based Arabic papers Al-Muslimoon and Al-Arab — both of which are published by Saudi Research & Publishing Co. which also owns Arab News — before joining Al-Zahira after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Al-Shafei joined Asharq Al-Awsat in 1991 and spent 15 years on the sports desk before shifting to reporting on terrorism. He went on to pioneer Arab press coverage in the field, writing about all aspects of it, including its ideologies and ties to states like Iran.
His colleagues knew him for his calm demeanor, humility and meticulous approach, marked by precise documentation, deep analysis and avoidance of sensationalism.
Al-Shafei ventured fearlessly into terrorist strongholds, meeting senior terrorist leaders and commanders. In the 1970s he was one of only a handful of journalists to interview Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, and conducted exclusive interviews with senior figures within Al-Qaeda.
He also tracked post-Al-Qaeda groups like Daesh, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Boko Haram, offering pioneering analysis of Sunni-Shiite extremism and how cultural contexts shaped movements across Asia and Africa.
During the war on Al-Qaeda, he visited US bases in Afghanistan, embedded with international forces, and filed investigative reports from active battlefields — rare feats in Arab journalism at the time.
He interviewed Osama bin Laden’s son, highlighting a humanitarian angle while maintaining objectivity, and was among the few Arab journalists to report from Guantanamo, where his interviews with Al-Qaeda detainees shed light on the group’s operations.
Al-Shafei married a Turkish woman in London in the late 1970s, with whom he had a son and daughter. He was still working just hours before he died in London on Dec. 31.
