Syria

U.S-backed Armed Terrorist Group Attacks al-Ikhbariya TV Channel, Three Journalists Martyred


Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi on Wednesday said the armed terrorist groups perpetrated the worst massacre against journalism and the freedom of media when they executed the Syria media figures in cold blood.

The Minister held those who instigate against Syria and escalate terrorism against its people fully responsible for this massacre.

Minister al-Zoubi said “This massacre won’t go unpunished and the broadcast of the Syrian al-Ikhbariya Satellite Channel will not stop and we hold the EU, Arab and International organizations responsible for this massacre.”

Al-Zoubi added: “Those who committed this crime had carried out the decision of the Arab League Council to silence the voice of Syria.”

Minister al-Zoubi asserted that the armed terrorist groups who broke into the headquarters of al-Ikhbariya perpetrated a heinous crime executing the journalists, employees and civil guards, telephone operators, exploding the studios, looting some of the Channel technical sets.

Minister al-Zoubi added that the EU decision in Luxembourg to impose sanctions on Syrian TV and Radio in addition to the continued campaigns of provocations against Syria have been crowned today with this terrorist attack against al-Ikhbariya Satellite Channel.

Minister al-Zoubi referred this heinous crime against the Syrian Media to the EU with all of its institutions, to all ministers of information worldwide, Arab and foreign press, UN, UN Security Council, UN Human Rights Council, Arab League, as well as to Arab league Secretary General.

Syria’s voice with all of its media outlets would ever remain as to encounter the hatched conspiracies, blasting the Arab League recent decision to prohibit Syrian media transmission via Arabsat and Nilesat, holding the League Secretary-General accountable for this legal and political liability.

Three journalists and workers in the Syrian al-Ikhbaryia Satellite Channel were martyred Wednesday morning in a brutal terrorist attack by an armed terrorist group targeting the headquarters of al-Ikhbaryia.

The martyrs who were killed in the terrorist attack against al-Ikhbariya Channel are: Sami Abu Amin, Zaid Kahl and Mohammad Shamma.

The terrorists planted explosive devices in the headquarters of al-Ikhbaryia following their ransacking and destroying of the Satellite Channel studios, including the newsroom studio which was entirely destroyed.

al-Ikhbaryia Satellite Channel, an active Syrian media means in confronting misleading and misinformation campaigns, continued, however, its transmission regardless of the brutal terrorist attack.

Syria has been facing a sinister campaign launched by some Arab media means, especially the Qatari and Saudi, and western media means fabricating and disseminating false, virtual and biased news.

Information Ministry: Terrorist Attack against al-Ikhbariya Channel is an attack against Freedom of Information

The Ministry of Information stressed that on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 an armed terrorist group perpetrated an attack against al-Ikhbariya TV channel headquarters in Damascus Countryside.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ministry said ”At Wednesday dawn, June 27th, an armed terrorist group attacked the headquarter and buildings of the Syria News Satellite Channel in the Damascus countryside, adding that ”The terrorists assassinated a number of journalists, media men and technicians of the channel and its security guards.”

”They also planted many explosive charges in the news studio, the administration offices and the technical equipments rooms which completely destroyed them, then set fire to the remaining offices and tied a number of the workers and shot them dead, and abducted others,” the statement added.

The statement went on to say ”As announcing what happened and the martyrs of free word and nationalist honest media, the Ministry of Information places this horrible crime where it must be, as a crime against human norms, media conventions, and journalism.”

”This evil aggression on the freedom of media, its cadre and foundations comes in concurrence and as completion to the attempts to prevent the Syrian national media from satellite broadcasting, and carrying them out directly via the sanctions adopted against this media, the latest of which is what was issued yesterday evening by the EU Council against the General Organization of Radio &Television in Syria, and Addounia private TV channel before,” added the statement.

The statement said that ”The repeated attempts to silence and prevent the Syrian media from delivering the full truth honestly and directly to the Syrian, Arab and world public opinion will end in failure based on the creativity of this free media supported by the decent Syrian people.”

The statement added ”The Syrian Ministry of Information calls on the Council of Arab Ministers of Information to hold responsibility and become aware of the full truth of the aggression against the media men who were martyred, abducted or injured in the incident, and exercise its role to guarantee freedom of media, satellite broadcasting, life and safety of journalists everywhere.”

”The Syrian News Channel and the Syrian media, along with the souls of the martyrs, will always remain nationalist and human minarets despite hatred and terrorism,’ the stamen concluded.

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