Madrid
A correspondent for the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera was arrested in Spain this week on charges of belonging to al Qaida. Tayssir Alouni, a Syrian with a Spanish passport, was the reporter who scooped the world by getting an interview with Osama bin Laden shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Spanish authorities said they had taped phone conversations showing that Alouni had been giving money and assistance to al Qaida cells in Europe. They said they had been watching Alouni since 2000—a detail that surprised many in Spain, where the reporter was recently allowed to interview Prime Minister Jose Maria Azner. Alouni denies the charges. His Al-Jazeera colleagues pointed out that Western reporters who held secret meetings with militants to get interviews were not arrested.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's oppositionThe Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
-
How the woke right gained power in the USUnder the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
