In the strange but true department, Aljazeera “has rejected the claim by an American author that it leaked information that led to the capture of alleged leading al-Qaeda figures.” On the other hand, a group called Friends of Al-Jazeera seems to be accepting a claim, made by the same author, that the U.S. deliberately bombed Al-Jazeera’s offices.
So how reliable is this author, Ron Suskind?
Al-Jazeera says that Suskind, author of The One Percent Doctrine, “told CNN that information about the hiding places of alleged al-Qaida figures, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, obtained by Aljazeera in 2002, was leaked to Qatari officials. Suskind said the information was communicated to the Emir of Qatar, who communicated it to US officials.”
In a press release, “Aljazeera described Suskind’s claim as ridiculous and baseless.” Aljazeera said it was “well known for its editorial independence” and its “commitment to protect the rights of sources”.
The “rights” of sources? Does that mean it did have or has sources in al Qaeda?
Regarding the claim that the U.S. deliberately bombed Al-Jazeeera, CNN analyst David Ensor told Wolf Blitzer that, “…all I can tell you is that I’ve talked to several former very senior CIA officials, and they say none of them heard anything about a plan to bomb Al Jazeera, and none of them ever were aware that the U.S. government had done that deliberately.”
Â
Posted: June 23, 2006 at 7:55 am
Hugh Miles,author of an interesting book about Al-Jazeera, is now defending the network against charges that it is closely tied to terrorists. In Foreign Policy, he writes, “After all, when Al Jazeera offers its estimated 50 million viewers exclusive interviews of Osama bin Laden, it’s easy to confuse access with endorsement. And when a journalist who conducts those interviews is jailed for collaboration with al Qaeda, as Tayssir Alouni was in a Spanish court last year, the line between impartial observer and impassioned supporter is certainly blurred.”
Blurred? Impassioned supporter? Collaboration? Alouni was convicted of being an agent of al Qaeda and charged with being involved with those who planned the 9/11 attacks on America. And his conviction has been upheld by the Spanish Supreme Court.
Is that the best that defenders of Al-Jazeera can do? If so, the Al-Jazeera International spin-off is in deep trouble.
Posted: June 14, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Walid Phares reports that, “Reacting to the killing of Abu Mus’ab al Zarqawi in Iraq, pro-Jihadi commentators on al Jazeera rushed to assert that the ‘death of Zarqawi won’t weaken al Qaida but will actually unify the organization.’” Read more here.
Meanwhile, Stratfor reports that, “Jordanian police cut the feed of a live broadcast by Arabic-language news station Al Jazeera from the home of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s sister in Zarqa, Jordan, on June 8. In the broadcast, al-Zarqawi’s brother-in-law, Abu Qudama, praised the slain al Qaeda in Iraq leader, saying, ‘If he had lived in a European country, the president would have kissed his feet.’”
Posted: June 9, 2006 at 8:18 am
Rupert Murdoch, owner of the conservative Fox News Channel, is providing Al-Jazeera access to the British media market. And he has already signed a deal to allow Al-Jazeera International access to the British media market. Â
But will the discovery of an al Qaeda-inspired cell in Canada hurt Al-Jazeera International’s campaign to get into U.S. and Western media markets?
It is fascinating to note that the cell was discovered just days after Mullah Dadullah, a Taliban commander, appeared on al-Jazeera television warning Canada that its military presence in Kandahar “makes Canadians a target,” as the Ottawa Citizen reported. You can read a transcript of his remarks at MEMRI.
Taliban official on Al-Jazeera.
CIA veteran John Brennan is quoted in the Baltimore Sun as saying that the case of the Muslim terrorists in Canada serves as a reminder that “there are a number of extremists who are in North America-both in the United States and Canada.” Henry “Hank” Crumpton, the State Department’s counterterrorism chief, says the U.S. ”needs to improve its efforts to counter propaganda on the Internet.”Â
It stands to reason that we can start this counterattack by keeping enemy propaganda out of our airwaves. That means keeping Al-Jazeera International (AJI) out of U.S. and Western media markets. But get this: “AJI has already signed with satellite distributor BSkyB, which is partly owned by FOXNews.com’s parent company, News Corporation.” This was reported by Foxnews.com BSkyB is a British satellite system.
In the U.S., Al-Jazeera is available through the DISH satellite network, owned by Echostar. AJI is still looking for a U.S. carrier.
Will Murdoch come through for them?
Â
Posted: June 6, 2006 at 6:52 pm
In a major development casting doubt on the “independence” of the “new” Al-Jazeera International (AJI) from the “old” Al-Jazeera, it is being reported that Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, “the royal owner of al-Jazeera,” has elevated Waddah Khanfar, the Arabic channel’s managing director, “to the position of director general” of AJI.
“This put him in overall charge of AJI,” reports Faisal Bodi, described as a leading commentator on Muslim affairs.
He reports, “Behind the scenes, a battle has been raging for the soul of AJI that only now looks like being settled.” That is, settled in favor of the old personnel who made Al-Jazeera into a front for terrorists.
The “soul” of Al-JAzeera International, in other words, has been captured by the same people who gave us the pro-terrorist Al-Jazeera. Â
There’s more: Bodi reports, “More moves to reassert Arab influence over a wayward AJI followed. In another humiliating rebuke, [Nigel] Parsons [the AJI managing editor] Â was forced to bring in Ibrahim Hilal, the former chief editor of the Arabic channel, as his deputy.”
Bodi adds: “The Arab fightback didn’t stop there. The network also obliged AJI staff to attend political orientation classes. The lessons, given by Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Council, were intended to combat Eurocentrism by attempting to coach journalists to see the world through Arab eyes.”
Under these circumstances, how long will someone like Dave Marash, formerly of ABC’s Nightline, stay with AJI?
It is looking, more and more, like AJI is just what we have been warning about. Marash ought to resign immediately.
Â
Â
Â
. He has responded with a rearguard action to protect AJI from becoming a pale imitation of its western rivals.
Posted: June 2, 2006 at 12:31 pm
We’ve heard repeatedly that the English-language Al-Jazeera will be different than the Arabic Al-Jazeera. Well, World Screen.com reports that Ibrahim Helal has been appointed deputy managing director of news and programs at Al Jazeera International. Who’s he? Helal is a former editor-in-chief at Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel.
He went on the air on CNN after 9/11 when an Osama bin Laden tape found its way to Al-Jazeera via the channel’s Kabul, Afghanistan, bureau. CNN’s Jeanne Meserve reported, “On the 20-minute tape, bin Laden does not deny that his organization was responsible for the September 11 attacks in the United States.” Â
The Kabul bureau of Al-Jazeera was run by Tasir Alouni, later convicted of being an agent of al Qaeda.
Â
Posted: June 1, 2006 at 5:13 pm
