"Eighteen Palestinian journalists were denied access by the Palestinian Authority to cover President Obama's visit last week to the West Bank.
Authority officials said there were "security reasons" for the failure to give accreditation to the journalists. Some work for pro-Hamas media and some represent media close to the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, but have been critical of it.
The 18 journalists included Mohammed Daraghmeh, who works for theAssociated Press, and he was eventually granted access after making a strong complaint.
Others were not so lucky. They included: Abbas Momani (AFP), Issam Rimawi (Al Hayat Al Jadeeda), Maher Alemi (Al Quds), Nael Bwaitel (Xinhua), Iyad Jadallah (WAFA), Hudaifa Srour (WAFA) and Awad Rjoub (Al-Jazeera website). The others were from pro-Hamas news outlets.
The Authority's foreign press secretary, Abdullah Erakat, acknowledged that some journalists didn't get accreditation due to "technical mistakes" and said he had "lost sleep" over the issue. He denied that journalists were denied security clearance because of their work.
Anthony Mills, deputy director of the International Press Institute, registered concern at the denial of access, adding: "We urge the president's office to undertake an investigation into this matter and ensure that journalists for all media are given equal access in future.""
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