Arabic news broadcaster Al Jazeera is one of 10 channels banned in Iraq following a week of unprecedented violence in the country. The channels, including Al Shaqira which is backed by Iraqi media tycoon Saad al-Bazzaz  The 10 channels have had their licences to operate revoked.

Some 200 people were killed over a six-day period last week in clashes between the local security forces and Sunni protestors.

The channels will not be able to report from Iraq, or their reporters move around the country

“We took a decision to suspend the licence of some satellite channels that adopted language encouraging violence and sectarianism,” said Mujahid Abu al-Hail of the Communications and Media Commission on Sunday [28 April],” reported BBC Monitoring.

“The fact that so many channels have been hit all at once … suggests this is an indiscriminate decision,” an Al-Jazeera spokesman told AFP.

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