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May 21, 2005 -- Al-Jazeera, the Arab cable network that regularly broadcasts gruesome pictures of beheaded kidnap victims, refused to show the Saddam photos — because they considered them offensive.
Al-Jazeera has aired video and photos of American soldiers killed — as well as the horrifying beheading last year of businessman Nick Berg of Pennsylvania, and a South Korean civilian.

Jihad Ballout, a spokesman for the Qatar-based network, said al-Jazeera did not show the Saddam pictures "for professional and moral reasons."

"The photo is demeaning to Iraqis," he said.

"From the professional side, it is not news."

In contrast, al-Jazeera's competitor, Al-Arabiya, showed the front-page photo of Saddam that appeared in The Sun newspaper in Britain.

It also aired footage of the bodies of Saddam's two slain sons when their pictures were released by the U.S. military.





Andy Soltis

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