Dubai: Jordanian authorities confiscated last Wednesday a tape of Al Jazeera TV station's interview with Prince Hassan Bin Talal saying it included remarks that would harm Jordanian relations with Saudi Arabia, the satellite channel's chief reporter said.
A senior official in Amman yesterday denied the TV channel's allegation.
In a statement to Gulf News, a Jordanian official said the tape was seized because of the "way" in which the channel intended to use the interview with Prince Hassan, who was former crown prince and an uncle of King Abdullah II.
Al Jazeera called the seizure "an offence and insult" to the TV station and to press freedom.
Gassan Ben Jeddou, Al Jazeera reporter, and one of the prominent figures in Arab media, said the interview at the Royal Court on Wednesday was not aired live because of the Prince's commitments. The tape and photographs carried by the producer leaving Amman were confiscated a few hours later, he added.
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"Officials in Jordan told me that the tape is with the security apparatus, who say the interview harms Jordan's relations with Saudi Arabia," said Ben Jeddou.
In the interview, Prince Hassan said there are reports allegedly claiming that Saudi Security Adviser Prince Bander Bin Sultan supports "jihadist" parties against the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Al Jazeera journalist said.
Prince Hassan also said some Arab parties are cooperating with the US to attack Iran and Hezbollah besides trying to instigate a regional Sunni-Shiite strife, Ben Jeddou added.
Official sources in Amman, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied any link between the tape confiscation and relations with Riyadh. The confiscation "was not because of the interview's content, but because the way the channel was planning to use it," he said without elaborating.
Ben Jeddou said: "I consider what happened an offence to Al Jazeera, to me and to my program and to the press freedom. They [Jordanians] told me they have no problem with Al Jazeera or me ... They have opted the security choice and I chose the professional one."
