1,000 reporters to cover Palestinian election

cctv.com 01-11-2005 14:50

More than 1,000 Arab and foreign journalists have arrived in the Palestinian territories to cover the Palestinian presidential election on Sunday, Palestinian

officials said Saturday.

Ahmed Soboh, an official from the Palestinian Ministry of Information, said more than 1,000 journalist coming from all over the world will cover the presidential election.

The ministry has issued press cards for 1,100 journalists, which would enable every journalist to enter any election center and work freely without problems, said Soboh, who revealed that there are 1,077 polling stations all over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

The press cards were given to reporters in coordination with the Central Elections Committee, said Soboh.

All the local, Arab and foreign media representatives reinforced their presence in the Palestinian territories on the eve of the election, including crews of satellite TV channels, news agencies and radio stations who have already taken their positions.

The Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite channel sent 46 employees, including anchors, reporters and technicians, to the territories to reinforce its presence.

An owner of a hotel in Ramallah said the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) occupies 20 rooms in his hotel.

All the hotels in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were completely full of international observers, in addition to hundreds of foreign journalists.

Soboh said the ministry has worked 18 hours a day since Dec. 25 to facilitate working conditions for all journalists.

The media center of the elections committee will offer live feed for audio and video media as well as rooms for reporters equipped with computers.

Editor:Hu Hang  Source:CCTV.com