Iraqi protesters stormed Monday the headquarters of the Saudi MBC Iraq satellite channel in the capital Baghdad, against the background of the broadcasting of the mother channel, "MBC", a report they believe contained abuse of a person, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy head of the former Popular Mobilization Committee, who was killed in a raid. An American woman was accompanied by the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad airport in early January.
Activists on social media posted videos showing protesters chanting anti-Saudi Arabia before crossing the walls of the building and storming it, then destroying its contents, before the security forces came to control the situation.
Supporters of the Al-Hashd al-Shaabi block MBC headquarters in Baghdad and chanting: |
They carried pictures of the Iraqi engineer and flags, and hung a banner on the headquarters of the Saudi satellite channel, inscribed "Closed in the name of the people."
The storming came against the backdrop of a wave of dissatisfaction with the crowd of the popular crowd on communication sites in Iraq against the MBC channel, against the background of its insulting the engineer "in a documentary report, and accusing him of participating in the" terrorist "incident that led to the bombing of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut in a car in 1981. A car bomb that resulted in the killing of many embassy employees, including Iraqi civilians, Belqis, the wife of the late Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani.
Iraqi journalist Ali Fahim, a journalist, said, "When a satellite channel insults a symbol and a martyr of a large segment of the people and we do not see a symbolic government response, the masses take the initiative and we do not blame them then the shipments if they are not emptied will explode."
"I accept your hands one by one, the response must be very harsh for everyone who extends and transgresses us and our money entered into religious or political leaderships, so let her protect herself and condemn and denounce, so that no one communicates God, let her voice be heard ... We the people and those with us defend and die for it ...
The activist Taqa Abbas said that MBC channel mixed the poison with honey with the ring entitled "Nizar Qabbani", and she tried to gain feelings for her through the story of the famous poet and how his life was destroyed after the death of his wife due to the embassy bombing by opponents of the late President Saddam Hussein's regime.
The Iraqi Ministry of Interior has announced its rejection of any aggression or behavior outside the law to target the media, because ensuring the freedom and security of the media is part of the responsibility of the security forces.
She emphasized that the regulation of the work of the media is the responsibility of the Communications and Media Commission, which started with legal measures to address what was issued earlier by the Middle East TV network "MBC".
On the other hand, condemned the (MBC) Media Group based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the attack on the studios of MBC Iraq in the capital, Baghdad, that resulted in severe material damage to property.
The group said in a statement that it places the matter in the custody of the Iraqi authorities, and renews its confidence in the security and judicial agencies, in order to protect the institution that operates in Iraq in accordance with the laws and regulations, as well as its employees.