USG muscles Arab TV stations to present its view

[Khoder bin Hakkin]

Note that the offending Arab TV station has a "tendency to run
interviews with analysts who argued U.S. foreign
policy had brought about the recent attacks on the
World Trade Center and  the Pentagon."


As if there were another reason.  Oh sorry, its about "democracy",
right.


US to Qatar: rein in Al-Jazeera
 Tuesday, 2 October 2001 20:14 (ET)

http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=226316

 US to Qatar: rein in Al-Jazeera
 By ELI J. LAKE

  WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Embassy in Doha has filed a
formal
 complaint to the Qatari government about the partly state-owned
Al-Jazeera
 satellite network's coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes on New
York
 and the Pentagon, State Department officials told United Press
International
 Tuesday.

  Last week, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, Maureen Quinn, delivered a
demarche
 from Washington regarding Al-Jazeera's broadcasts to Qatari Foreign
Minister
 Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani.

  Quinn asked the Qataris to investigate what the United States says is
the
 station's tendency to run interviews with analysts who argued U.S.
foreign
 policy had brought about the recent attacks on the World Trade Center
and
 the Pentagon. The ambassador also expressed concern about the station's

 repeated airing of an interview with Osama bin Laden, the man the
United
 States says is behind the Sept. 11 attacks, State Department sources
said.

  "They are running this thing four times a day," one State Department
 official told UPI. "It's like giving him a free forum to justify his
beliefs
 with no filter."

  "All we are asking is for balanced reporting," another official said
 Tuesday. "They were airing interviews from the right of center and the
far
 right. There are plenty of other people who speak Arabic who have
condemned
 these attacks."

  Although Al-Jazeera is partly owned by the Qatari government, its
 editorial policy is independent, an anomaly in the state-run media
climate
 of the Middle East. It is also the largest Arabic television news
channel in
 the world. According to the station's Washington bureau, its programs
are
 watched by 40 million viewers regularly.
<snip>