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The site, , has a banner proclaiming that it is temporary, with coverage devoted to Iraq.

This morning, it features news stories on the Iraqi resistance to the Allied invasion, the role of Iran and a story headlined "Coalition of the willing becomes a joke", which proclaims "Most of the 43 countries in George Bush's 'coalition of the willing' are so insignificant that the alliance should be called the 'axis of the obscure'."

The site proclaims itself to be "objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis". Many of the articles on the site are written without bylines, and there are some pieces that are likely to raise heckles in Western quarters. One opinion piece, not attributed to any writer, asks: "Has Israeli lobby influenced this war?"

The Qatar-based satellite news network made its name following 9/11, when it had exclusive footage of Osama bin Laden, who ordered the attacks on New York and Washington DC.

Al Jazeera has been criticised by the West for its coverage of the conflict in Iraq, after it showed images of dead US soldiers and by broadcasting Iraqi television footage of five US prisoners of war.

As of January, the network had more than 135,000 subscribers in America, and moved to expand its team of editorial staff based in Washington. In an attempt to extend its audience beyond speakers of Arabic, it has started to provide English subtitles for many of its programmes and English translations of network transcripts on its website. It also hopes to debut English-language shows tailored specifically to American audiences in the next year.

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