Talking to reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites), Rumsfeld said both of the Arab television stations have been in "close proximity" to attacks against coalition forces, sometimes before assaults had even occurred.

Asked if US troops in Baghdad had evidence one, or both, of the Arab channels had been cooperating with insurgents, Rumsfeld replied:"The answer is yes, I've seen scraps of information over a sustained period of time that need to be looked at in a responsible, orderly way."

"I'm not in a position to make a final judgement on it," the defense secretary stressed.

"I opined, accurately, that from time-to-time, each of those stations have found themselves in close proximity to things that were happening to coalition forces, before the event happened, and during the event."

"How it happens is for time to tell, but it happens," Rumsfeld remarked.

Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera have both been criticised by the US and British governments for inciting violence against coalition troops in Iraq (news - web sites).

On Monday, the council banned Saudi-owned satellite television Al-Arabiya from working in Iraq, charging it with incitement to murder after it broadcast a Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) tape calling for attacks on council members.

Satellite news network Al-Jazeera is based in Doha, Qatar.

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