TV stations criticise the use of 'images of war'

News organisations faced criticism last night over use and censorship of disturbing images of war.

Sharp differences have emerged in the editorial values of the Western and Arab media. In a discussion on BBC Radio 5 Live, Richard Sambrook, the director of BBC News, defended the corporation's decision not to show horrific images of Iraqi child casualties that were widely screened on Arab television stations.

When accused of bias, Mr Sambrook said that pictures of a 10-year-old boy who had suffered appalling head injuries in bombing were not suitable for a British audience.

Steve Anderson, controller of ITV News, said: "I have seen some of the images on Al-Jazeera television. I would never put them on screen. I'm not criticising them for that. There seems to be an acceptance of images I don't think would be acceptable here."

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera broadcast pictures of what it said were killed and captured US soldiers, which the International Committee of the Red Cross said was in breach of the Geneva Convention.