A Labour MP today accused the BBC of giving "comfort" to Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors with over-sympathetic coverage of the conflict in Afghanistan.
Peter Bradley, MP for The Wrekin, wrote a letter of complaint to Richard Sambrook, the BBC's head of news, over a report filed by Rageh Omaar for last night's 10 O'Clock News on BBC 1.
Mr Bradley wrote: "Every frame of the film featured the Taliban's point of view.
"I do not object in principle to that. But this report did so without challenge or scepticism, without caution or context and therefore, whether by design or default, presented it was the uncontested truth."
Mr Bradley posed a series of questions in his letter relating to how Mr Omaar's entry into Afghanistan was arranged; whether conditions were placed upon him to secure entry; what assistance he received from the Taliban; and whether the Taliban vetted his reports.
Mr Bradley also asked: "Specifically, did Mr Omaar simply happen upon the children he filmed allegedly waiting for the abatement of the fires still smouldering after several days in the wreckage of a Red Cross building so that they could scour it for food?
"Or were they marshalled there before the cameras and, if so, by whom?"
The MP also asked whether Mr Omaar would be recalled from Afghanistan, or issued with new guidelines if he was to remain there.
Mr Bradley told PA News: "It's bad enough that were are in a war with al Qaida and the Taliban without having to take on the BBC as well.
"This was not the BBC, it was Taliban TV - the only thing missing was a voice-over from Osama bin Laden. I don't know if this was naive or simply irresponsible - either way it should not have been shown."
PA