Iraq rescinds Al Jazeera shutdown

Iraq took offence at Al Jazeera's "improper" use of the president's title

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A flap over the proper title for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein prompted the Arab satellite news channel Al Jazeera to temporarily shut down its Baghdad office after the authorities suspended one of its correspondents.

The offices were open again Wednesday after a newspaper owned by the president's son supported the network and the suspension of the correspondent was lifted.

Iraq's Ministry of Information said it suspended Diyar al-Omari on Saturday because he referred to Hussein as the "Iraqi president," instead of his full title and name, "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."

The precise rules from the Iraqi government on how to refer to Hussein are not clear.

Shortly after the suspension of al-Omari, who is an Iraqi citizen, the managing director for Qatar-based Al Jazeera wrote a letter of protest and closed its 14-strong Baghdad bureau.

Late Tuesday, Baghdad authorities lifted the suspension which was supposed to last for 10 days.

The Al Jazeera office has since reopened.

An editorial supporting Al Jazeera appeared in Wednesday morning's Babel newspaper, owned by Uday Hussein, the son of Hussein.

"The authorities forgot that it was that channel [Al Jazeera] that aired the whole speech of the president [Saddam Hussein], creating a precedent not only for Al Jazeera but also for Arab and foreign channels and they also forgot that it is the largest and biggest Arab satellite channel in its specialty," the editorial, written by Safa Al-Hirmizi, said.

"What's the benefit of stirring such a subject and knocking down doors we shouldn't knock down while there are many channels that operate out of our control, like ABC, CNN, CBS, BBC," it said.

Many Iraqis do not receive Al Jazeera or other international networks because it is only distributed via satellite.