Tayseer Allouni, one of the most prominent journalists in the Middle East was arrested in November 2004 by the Spanish government on bogus charges claiming that Allouni had links to Al Qaeda. Tayseer, a Spanish citizen and father of five, was originally arrested in September 2003 but was released a month later on bail due to a heart condition.

Tayseer has an impeccable history of giving journalistic reports with hard-hitting honesty and integrity from the frontlines of war zones. His arrest is a blow not only to AlJazeera, but to a free media in the region. It is an insult to journalists around the world and the profession of journalism itself. In fact, it is nothing more than plain old tactic of intimidation - either you report the "facts" according to the US high command press briefing or you will be locked up. Or kicked out. Or silenced. Or killed...

Friends of Al Jazeera is taking an aggressive role in crafting a coherent response to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) July 15,2004 ruling vis a vis Al Jazeera Satellite Channel.

The aforementioned ruling approved the addition of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel to a list of eligible satellite services in Canada, but with a confusing and controversial caveat that any cable carrier of the channel will be liable for any "abusive content" that Al Jazeera may broadcast. This outrageous caveat is effectively a ban on Al Jazeera. In fact, over 7 months after the ruling Al Jazeera is still not carried by any cablesystem, including Videotron, a key sponsor of the network.