Syria’s Electronic Warriors Hit Al JazeeraEmails said to reveal dismay among Al-Jazeera staff over its “biased and unprofessional” coverage of Syria have been leaked by pro-Assad hackers.
Damascus – On Wednesday, the entire staff of the Al Jazeera network allegedly received an email instructing them to change their computer and email passwords.
Earlier in the week, the network’s server had been hacked by the self-styled Syrian Electronic Army, and some of its secrets were released to the media.
The major find to be made public was an email exchange between anchorwoman Rula Ibrahim and Beirut-based reporter Ali Hashem. The emails seemed to indicate widespread disaffection within the channel, especially over its coverage of the crisis in Syria.
Ibrahim wrote to her colleague saying that she had "turned against the revolution" in Syria after realizing that the protests would "destroy the country and lead to a civil war.” She went on to deride the opposition Free Syrian Army, which she described as "a branch of al-Qaeda."
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The same sources said some Al Jazeera staffers were relieved that the email exchange had been leaked, "because it exposed the station's biased and unprofessional coverage Syria.”
They also confirmed an allegation Ibrahim had reportedly made in one of her emails: That Ahmad Ibrahim, who is in charge of the channel’s Syria coverage, is the brother of Anas al-Abdeh, a leading member of the opposition Syrian National Council. He allegedly stopped using his family name to avoid drawing attention to the connection.
The sources said that among the issues concerning Al Jazeera journalists was pressure to start employing the term “martyr” when referring to slain Syrian opposition supporters, but not regime loyalists or members of the security forces.
They said two camps had emerged within the newsroom: one, headed by Hilal, wanting professional coverage of the coverage, and another “who believe they are part of this war and do not hesitate to show that on air.”
The sources said that as part of this rivalry, Facebook groups had appeared which were devoted to targeting Al Jazeera journalists "who are guilty of trying to be objective."
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link to english.al-akhbar.com]