Iraqi police breaks into al-Jazeera TV office after extending its closure

The Iraqi police broke into the office of al-Jazeera TV in Baghdad and sealed the news room and destroyed one of the doors in the first floor of the office's building.

The breaking in operation coincided with the decision of the interim Iraqi government to extend the phase of the office closure in Baghdad indefinitely because of what it described as "the channel did not give written explanations on reasons behind its provoking hostile views against the Iraqi people and its national government," according to a statement issued by the ministerial committee for national security in Iraq.

The statement also said that al-Jazeera did not officially request the Iraqi government the reasons behind the closure, noting that al-Jazeera continued broadcasting its programs from inside Iraq in exclusive interviews ignoring the decision provides for banning it, deliberately.