Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera said it was consulting its lawyers on Wednesday over comments by British former interior minister David Blunkett defending military action against what he described as an enemy 'propaganda mechanism'.
The channel, whose Baghdad bureau was bombed by aircraft of the US-led coalition just two weeks after Blunkett said he advised Prime Minister Tony Blair to take it out, expressed outrage at the comments aired by Britain's privately owned Channel Four television Monday.
"Al-Jazeera Network is outraged at such an attitude toward the free press," a statement said.
"We are troubled by the fact that the former home secretary's advice came only two weeks before the actual (April 8, 2003) bombing of Al-Jazeera's Baghdad office, which resulted in the death of our reporter, Tareq Ayoub, and the destruction of our facilities.
"As an international news organisation, Al Jazeera Network is obliged by law to address its employees' increasing concerns for their very lives.
"We find Mr. Blunkett's allegations and position to be irresponsible and dangerous not only for Al-Jazeera but for the freedom of media everywhere in the world.
"Given the weight of Mr. Blunkett's statements, we strongly urge Prime Minister Blair for a clarification of this matter in alignment with the tenets of freedom and democracy which they advocate.
"Al-Jazeera is in consultation with its lawyers and pursuing next steps in the matter."
In Monday's interview, Blunkett, who was a member of Blair's war cabinet at the time, said he had advised the prime minister that he considered Al-Jazeera's Iraq operation to be a legitimate target amidst the US-led occupation.
"There wasn't a worry from me because I believed that this was a war and in a war you wouldn't allow the broadcasts to continue taking place," he said.
Asked whether attacking a media outlet was not against international law, he said: "Well I don't think for a minute in previous wars we'd have thought twice about ensuring that a propaganda mechanism on the soil of the country you were invading would actually continue being able to propagandise against you."