Pentagon silence angers reporters

A press briefing due to have been held in the Pentagon's press centre in the Gulf state of Qatar was cancelled with just minutes' notice on the orders of the US government, reporters claimed today.

The Australian authorities had planned to brief press on the latest developments in Iraq at lunchtime today from the Pentagon's military centre in Qatar.

But the on-camera briefing was cancelled and replaced with a background briefing for Australian correspondents only.

Sky News reporter Geoff Meade said journalists were becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of information coming out of the Pentagon.

"There is a growing sense of frustration because we are not being given the overall picture. This is a war in which we have been constantly surprised. It began with the first strike - up until then we had been led to expect a huge onslaught with a possible land invasion. None of that happened," he said.

"The Australians, who in a sense are the minnows of this coalition, were planning to host an on-camera press briefing. It would have been the first time this Hollywood-designed studio would have been used. But two minutes ago we heard that had been cancelled. The whole thing is very much under US control," he added.

The Pentagon spent £150,000 for a Hollywood set designer to give its military briefing room in the Gulf a glitzy makeover. But Meade said the microphones had "remained silent" since the conflict began.

"It brings to mind a quote from a US general in the last century, who, when asked 'what shall we tell the journalists?' replied, 'we'll tell them nothing until it's over and then we'll tell them who won'," he said.