Washington asks Qatar to curb TV station's news coverage of attacks
By freedomforum.org staff
10.04.01
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U.S. officials have asked Qatar to reign in the influential and editorially independent Al-Jazeera television station, which has carried statements by Osama bin Laden along with what are viewed as anti-American opinions.
The diplomatic response, from the emir of Qatar, is that he takes the request as "friendly advice."
But Al-Jazeera, the leading Arabic-language satellite news channel, today dismissed U.S. criticism that its coverage was unbalanced, saying it has given both U.S. and Afghan officials equal air time since last month's attacks, according to today's Washington Post.
U.S. officials have said that Al-Jazeera's coverage of the aftermath of the deadly Muslim terrorist attacks on Washington and New York encouraged anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and have asked the Qatar government to use its influence on the television station, the Post reported.
But Mohammad Jassem al-Ali, director general of the popular station, defended his network's coverage, according to the Post.
"These accusations are not strange," al-Ali said. "We have been accused of being the voice of Iraq because of our coverage, and now as we are the only people with access in Afghanistan, we're accused of being pro-Afghani. We give equal coverage to both sides, and that is our role."
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani, met yesterday in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
At a press briefing after that meeting, the emir offered his country's condolences for the Sept. 11 attacks and said, "There is no doubt that the unique relationship between Qatar and the United States dictates that we have to stand by the United States, especially in the efforts to combat terror."
According to a transcript of that briefing, a reporter then asked the emir whether he had "relayed" the concerns of the U.S. government "to the al-Jazeera network over the balancing of their coverage of the new war on terrorism."
"It is true that we heard from this administration, as well as previous American administrations in the past" about Al-Jazeera, the emir replied, adding, "Whenever we hear from these friends, we consider this as a friendly advice, and we listen to the friends and their advice."
But he noted: "Qatar is embarking on a parliamentary life that within two years will [bring] democracy, which dictates that freedom of the press should be granted, and that press should enjoy credibility."
Addressing Al-Jazeera specifically, he said, "There are so many heads of other states who raise that issue, and there [were] some setbacks. The issue here is how can we work together in order to combat terror, and how all the other countries in the region and elsewhere should work together in order to combat terror."
The BBC pointed out that "it was al-Jazeera which carried the faxed statement purportedly from Osama bin Laden, calling upon Muslims to fight the U.S., and broadcast unconfirmed reports that members of the U.S. special forces had been captured in Afghanistan," and that the station "has also been re-transmitting an exclusive interview with Bin Laden conducted three years ago, and featuring a number of anti-American analysts on its talk shows."
Al-Jazeera's independence in a region where most of the media are state-run has transformed it into the most popular station in the Middle East. The BBC noted that "its confrontation of controversial issues and string of scoops, which have included footage of the infamous Taliban destruction of ancient Buddha statues, has earned it praise both within the Arab world and beyond."
The station's coverage in the past has provoked anger from Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt for giving airtime to political dissidents, the BBC noted, adding that its coverage of the Palestinian uprising, which infuriates Israel, "is not helpful to the U.S. at a time when it is desperately wants Arab countries to seek peace in the Middle East."
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