Reporters Without Borders Attacks U.S. Pact on Satellite Images

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABC3LEZSC.html

    Reporters Without Borders Attacks U.S. Pact on Satellite Images
                          The Associated Press
                         Published: Oct 18, 2001
PARIS (AP) - A media advocacy group on Thursday criticized the U.S.
military for buying exclusive rights to commercial satellite imagery of
Afghanistan and said the move amounts to censorship because it blocks
media access to views of the war zone.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders urged Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld to revoke a deal that gives the U.S. military sole access to
pictures taken by Ikonos - considered the most efficient civilian
satellite - that display the area involved in Operation Enduring
Freedom.

The Pentagon duty officer could not immediately be reached for comment
Thursday night.

"This contract, effective since the first day of U.S. military strikes
on Afghanistan, is a way of disguised censorship aimed at preventing the
media from doing their monitoring job," Reporters Without Borders
director Robert Menard said in a statement.

Though there are other imagery satellites with pictures for sale, Ikonos
pictures are considered the best available to civilians.