Thursday, February 25, 2010

Reuters corrects error; hopes no one notices

In a prior post, we noted Reuters correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi erred when he reported that:
Iran says its support for Hamas is diplomatic only.
As documented in our post at the time and as reported by the Associated Press, Iran has, in fact, admitted to bankrolling Hamas.

In violation of its Handbook of Journalism, Reuters fails to correct this error openly but in a story appearing today about Hamas arms trafficker Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Reuters' al-Mughrabi is careful not to repeat the same mistake:
Both Hamas and Iran have acknowledged Tehran's financial support for the group [Hamas]...
Amusingly however, al-Mughrabi apparently now wishes readers to believe that Iranian financial support for Hamas may be for other than weapons:
... while stopping short of confirming Israel's belief that this includes bankrolling arms smuggled to the Gaza Strip.
Yes, we understand that Hamas has recently agreed to purchase on installment, Persian rugs for the mansion Ismail Haniyeh will be building in Gaza.

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