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Bruised on Internet, Al-Jazeera turns to cellphones


LONDON (Reuters) - Hacked off the Internet for showing controversial images from the Iraq war, the Arab news channel al-Jazeera said Wednesday it was launching a new service to send its news to mobile telephones.

The Qatar-based satellite television channel will beam news alerts in both Arabic and English to mobile phones around the world, after its Arabic and English-language Web sites were brought down by hackers.

Al-Jazeera, one of the most popular news networks in the Arab world, raised the ire of the United States and Britain last week after showing footage from Iraq of dead and captured American and British soldiers in the initial days of the war.

The network's Arabic-language Web site (www.aljazeera.net) was attacked last week by hackers who filled it with a message reading: "Hacked by Patriot, Freedom Cyber Force Militia" beneath the logo of a U.S. flag.

Users were also redirected to porn sites. But the site was up and running again on Wednesday.

Hackers also brought down its English-language site (english.aljazeera.net), rushed out to coincide with the start of the war. Al-Jazeera said it would launch a reinforced site later this month.

The channel called on the United States to come to its aid after the problems with its web sites and after two of its reporters were banned from the New York Stock Exchange.

It also urged the United States Wednesday to ensure the safety of its correspondents in Iraq after U.S. artillery hit a hotel where one of its offices is located.

After making its name in the Afghan war with exclusive footage of Osama bin Laden, al-Jazeera has taken the Arab world by storm.

An al-Jazeera spokesman said the new mobile service being launched Wednesday would be available in 130 countries.
 
04/02/03 12:13 ET
   
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