Media people in Ninewa converge on “shortcomings” in blasts coverage

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Several media people in Ninewa agreed that the recent suicide operations in several areas were only meant to “foment sedition among the sons of the one province,” though admitting “shortcomings” in the coverage of certain details in these operations. “The objectives sought by armed groups with these recent operations in Ninewa can be summed up as sheer attempts to rupture national unity and sow the seeds of discord among local residents of the province,” Tawfeeq Saeed, the director of the Ashtar satellite channel office in Ninewa and the editor-in-chief of al-Karma magazine, told Iraqi News. “Some countries in the region have been focusing on Mosul , a city of population that is mixed in a way not available in any other Iraqi city. Those countries seek Mosul to serve as their foothold for their destructive agendas,” Saeed said. He pinpointed that some politicians seek top posts they do not deserve. “They do not even care about the means that would bring them to that end.” Nour Fadel, a correspondent for the Talafar TV station, said “there is doubt that the prime objective of armed groups’ recent series of assaults on the Turkmen, Yazidis, Christians and Shabaks is to stir sedition among these social groups emblazoning Mosul in a very unique way”. “The mass media, namely the satellite channels, should steer clear of any exaggerations or escalations when covering incidents and developments. They should rather focus on unity and interdependence and keep at bay any distortion or twisting of facts,” Fadel told Aswat al-Iraq. Hussein Hashem Kaka’ie, a journalist for Akhbar al-Hadbaa newspaper, opined that the mass media have played their role in the coverage of bombing attacks that rocked Ninewa recently. “However, there should be no media hype about political statements that follow the blasts because they would have negative impact on the security scene,” he said. He blamed the former and incumbent local administrations in Ninewa for “failing to bring the displaced back to their original areas. “Sending the families that came to the province after 2005 back to their original residential provinces would also help alleviate the deteriorating security conditions,” he suggested. Another journalist, Hassan Omar, who works for the Rosh newspaper, published in the district of Sinjar, has held the Iraqi government and security agencies responsible for the acts of violence that swept different areas in Ninewa province. “The Iraqi government is unable to impose security and order and eliminate the gunmen. Adding insult to injury is that the security agencies are derelict and penetrated by several armed groups,” Omar told Aswat al-Iraq. AmR (I)/SR 1