The Algerian government has moved to withdraw the accreditation of two foreign correspondents that it accuses of distorting information on recent terrorist bombing in the country, the official Algerian News Agency (APS) has reported.
The withdrawal will affect the Reuters and AFP correspondents, who have been accused of spreading "false information" on terrorist attacks that have rocked the North African nation over the past few days, Algerian Communication Minister Abderrachid Boukerzaza told the state-run APS Tuesday.
The decision was taken after the correspondents of the two news agencies "admitted their responsibility in the matter" after a meeting convened by the communication ministry, the minister told a press briefing at the end of a cabinet meeting.
However, the communication minister was quick to point out that "the withdrawal of accreditation did not amount to the closure of the offices of these two agencies," according to the APS.
"We will take all necessary measures, when it comes to preserving our national interests," said the minister, adding that "those, who disseminate information relating to the country's stability and create a climate of fear among the population, must fully assume their responsibility."
During the press conference, the Algerian minister said that the foreign correspondents and reporters same as Algerian journalists were subject to existing laws and executive decrees that "established the modalities of their accreditation."
The two correspondents were successively summoned to the premises of the Algerian communication ministry Monday afternoon, where they were questioned over the dissemination of false "information" by the two agencies, according to reliable sources.
The AFP "had exaggerated the death toll in the terrorist attack that occurred Sunday in Beni Amrane" saying that 13 people had been killed while the real figure was two, including a French national, according to the communication ministry.
On the other hand, the Reuters correspondent was found "guilty" of disseminating false information to the effect that a terrorist attack had occurred Monday at a bus station in Bouira, allegedly killing about twenty people," according to the same source.
The withdrawal of accreditation to the two correspondents is a rare occurrence in Algeria.
Source:Xinhua
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