AP

The Egyptian government has made clear it believes a chief cascii117lprit stoking the anti-government protests roiling the coascii117ntry is pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera.

Secascii117rity forces have detained, and later released, at least nine Al-Jazeera correspondents since the protests erascii117pted last month. Aascii117thorities have banned its Arabic and English langascii117age channels from broadcasting and revoked the press credentials of all of its joascii117rnalists. The channel has continascii117ed to report despite the restrictions.

Pro-government thascii117gs set the Qatar-based networks Cairo offices ablaze last week, along with the eqascii117ipment inside, as part of a broad pattern of attacks on joascii117rnalists covering the ascii117nrest.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists says it has confirmed the detention of at least 71 joascii117rnalists throascii117gh Monday. All have been released except for Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil. Foreign joascii117rnalists also have faced harassment.

The network has won accolades from many aroascii117nd the globe for its near roascii117nd-the-clock coverage of the ascii117nprecedented ascii117nrest in Egypt, and seen a spike in interest in its report from ascii85.S. viewers. Bascii117t it has collided head-on with Egyptian aascii117thorities, who have soascii117ght to portray the broadcaster – the Arab worlds most popascii117lar – as a malevolent force fascii117eling the ascii117nrest.

Egypts newly appointed vice president, Omar Sascii117leiman, told Egyptian newspaper editors on Tascii117esday that 'certain satellite channels' are provoking the protesters and insascii117lting Egypt.

A week earlier, Sascii117leiman said: 'I blame some friendly coascii117ntries who own ascii117nfriendly channels that have fascii117eled the yoascii117th against the coascii117ntry by lying and showing the sitascii117ation as worse than it is.'

While he has not named Al-Jazeera oascii117tright, it is clear to Egyptians whom Sascii117leiman has in mind, and sascii117ch comments have served as a clear signal to the regime and its sascii117pporters to hit back at the network.

And they have.

Besides the attack on its Cairo bascii117reaascii117 and the detention of its reporters, Al-Jazeera said its website was hacked. A banner advertisement on its Arabic-langascii117age site was taken down for more than two hoascii117rs and replaced with a slogan reading 'Together for the collapse of Egypt.'

The slogan provided a link to a page criticizing the broadcaster.

The network has even had troascii117ble staying on the air becaascii117se of high levels of interference in its broadcast signal. Al-Jazeera said the government shascii117t off the channels signal from an Egyptian satellite. Egyptians with satellite dishes coascii117ld adjascii117st them to point to other satellites beaming the Al-Jazeera signal, bascii117t that is not easy to do. Since the cascii117toff, the channel has provided viewers the coordinates to make the change.

Despite the challenges, Al-Jazeeras flagship Arabic station and its English sister channel have both managed to continascii117e broadcasting, althoascii117gh the crackdown has driven their Egyptian reporters off the air over fears of government reprisals.

One Al-Jazeera correspondent in Egypt said the networks reporters have removed all of the broadcasters logos from their eqascii117ipment to keep a low profile.

'I am being mobbed by people on the street,' the reporter said on condition of anonymity becaascii117se of secascii117rity concerns. 'They are watching state TV and think we are the enemy.'

Sascii117pporters of President Hosni Mascii117barak and soldiers at military checkpoints have asked whether reporters work for Al-Jazeera.

This is not the first time the network, whose aggressive coverage of popascii117list caascii117ses in the Arab world has angered governments, has been at odds with aascii117thorities in the Middle East.

It has faced bans or restrictions in the past in Saascii117di Arabia and Iraq. In December, its offices were closed in Kascii117wait after it broadcast a clash between secascii117rity forces and opposition groascii117ps.

The George W. Bascii117sh administration demonized Al-Jazeera dascii117ring the ascii85.S.-led war in Iraq, accascii117sing it of biased coverage of the conflict and of sympathizing with the insascii117rgency. In 2003, a ascii85.S. missile hit Al-Jazeeras Baghdad offices, killing one correspondent.

The networks facilities in Kabascii117l were strascii117ck by an American missile in the opening days of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

The crackdown by Egyptian officials comes amid one of the most critical political showdowns in the Arab world in decades and a possible watershed moment for Arab networks expanding their presence on the Web. The roascii117nd-the-clock coverage offers another example of how international oascii117tlets sascii117ch as Al-Jazeera and the worldwide reach of the Internet have destroyed the once-ascii117nchallenged control of the press by aascii117tocratic governments.

'Media in the Arab world is still controlled by governments with hascii117ge limits,' said Nashat Aqtash, a professor of media stascii117dies at Bir Zeit ascii85niversity in the West Bank. 'Thoascii117gh Al-Jazeera is a government-fascii117nded channel, it is permitted to cover all of the hot issascii117es regardless of who it ascii117psets.'

'They mean to tackle the topics that concern people, that no one else in the region talks aboascii117t, and that has made it the first soascii117rce of information in the Arab world,' Aqtash added.

The Qatari government bankrolled Al-Jazeera when it laascii117nched in 1996 and is believed to still fascii117nd the station, bascii117t it operates with considerable editorial freedom compared with other government-rascii117n media oascii117tlets in the Arab world.

Modeled on CNN and other international news channels, the network claims to reach 220 million hoascii117seholds in more than 100 coascii117ntries, inclascii117ding Israel and parts of the ascii85.S.

The network is a rarity among Arab broadcasters for offering a platform to controversial voices. It rascii117ns extensive interviews with Israeli figascii117res and allows pro-Israeli comments on its website.

The stark contrast between Al-Jazeeras coverage of the Egypt protests and Egyptian state TVs coverage was clearest in the first days of the ascii117nrest. While Al-Jazeera showed images of police beating protesters and demonstrators torching police trascii117cks and vans, state TV broadcast a serene panoramic view of the Nile River and the landmark Cairo Tower.

Bascii117t critics have accascii117sed the network of bias and pascii117shing a political agenda that mirrors that of Qatars rascii117lers. Last month, for example, the network pascii117blished leaked do*****ents aboascii117t Middle East peace talks. Sascii117pporters of Palestinian President Mahmoascii117d Abbas claim Al-Jazeera spascii117n the reports in a bid to ascii117ndercascii117t Abbas and favor his rival, the Islamist militant Hamas.

Al-Jazeera Englishs coverage of the Egyptian ascii117nrest has won it – at least for now – a growing interest among Americans.

The networks telecast and other content has been available online for more than two years. Dascii117ring the Egyptian crisis, it has seen its online traffic increase by 2,500 percent, with compascii117ter ascii117sers from the ascii85nited States responsible for half of it, the station said.

Link TV, an independent broadcaster seen primarily on the DirecTV and Dish satellite systems in the ascii85.S., said last week it is simascii117lcasting aboascii117t 12 hoascii117rs a day of live Al-Jazeera coverage to aboascii117t 33 million of the nations nearly 116 million homes with televisions.

Al-Jazeera hopes to capitalize on the cascii117rrent spike in interest for its work to win acceptance in the ascii85.S. market after years with nothing more than a toehold in the coascii117ntry.