CNN FIRES MIDDLE EASTERN REPORTER

The requirement that users of Twitter limit their remarks to 140 characters may have done in CNN’s senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs, Octavia Nasr. On Sunday, she posted a message on Twitter saying that she was “sad” to hear of the death of Shiite cleric the Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. “One of Hezbollah’s giants,” Nasr called him, “One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” Her comment drew anger from supporters of Israel, who pointed out that the cleric had supported suicide bombings and had frequently denounced the U. S. On Wednesday, CNN fired her and apologized to viewers for any offense her remarks may have created. Hours earlier Nasr had posted a follow-up message insisting that she respected the Shiite cleric because of his progressive stand regarding Muslim women. .”This does not mean I respected him for what else he did or said. Far from it.”