Al Jazeera reports that six of its reporters have been arrested in Cairo. The Egyptian government on Sunday forced Al Jazeera's Cairo offices to close and suspended its correspondents' accreditations. The reporters, who were arrested from their hotel rooms, believe they were arrested on the pretext of reporting without permission. Dan Nolan, one of the reporters arrested, tweeted that he was being held at an army checkpoint outside the Hilton hotel in Cairo. The government decision to prevent Al Jazeera reporting from Egypt was first announced on state-run Nile Television. It came amid international praise for the network's extensive coverage of events in Egypt and Tunisia. Al Jazeera meanwhile continues to report from Doha on the events unfolding in Egypt. Sunday's crackdown on Al Jazeera is not the first attack on journalists in Egypt since the protests began. In recent days, several foreign journalists have been arrested and/or beaten by plain-clothed forces. Al Jazeera said it strongly denounced and condemned the closure of its bureau in Cairo. “By banning Al Jazeera, the government is trying to limit the circulation of TV footage of the six-day-old wave of protests,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “This totally archaic decision is in completely contradiction with President Hosni Mubarak's promise of ‘democratic' measures on 28 January. It is also the exact opposite of the increase in freedom sought by the Egyptian population.” The Egyptian government continues to attempt to control the flow of information after internet and mobile phone services were suspended on Thursday. Mobile services were partly restored on Saturday, but the majority of the country remains without internet connection.
