Al-Jazeera Vs. Al-Jazeera International: What’s the Difference?   June 1, 2006

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.”  

The Kabul bureau of Al-Jazeera was run by Tasir Alouni, later convicted of being an agent of al Qaeda.