[Media-watch] FW: Qatar pledges to act on Washingtons concerns about Aljazeera

[David Miller]

Qatari FM: We'll act on US concerns about al-Jazeera

 

WASHINGTON, April 29 (AFP) - Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem
al-Thani pledged Thursday to act on sternly worded US complaints that the
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network's coverage of Iraq is unfair.

 

"We will take this concern back to Al-Jazeera and they have to review it
because we need Al-Jazeera to be professional and we don't want anybody to
send lies or to send wrong information," he said at the White House.

 

Sheikh Hamad said he had talked with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and that "they have some concerns that Al-Jazeera
sends some inaccurate information about what's happening in Iraq.

 

"Al-Jazeera and our government would like only accurate information, and we
need them to be professional," he said. "That's not respectable by us and
not by the world if they are doing this."

 

At the same time, Sheikh Hamad distanced himself from the Arabic-language
news channel's coverage, saying he was "not responsible" for it and that the
network was "part of the free press" in Qatar. And he said Qatar's
government needed to hear from Al-Jazeera "what they have to say about
this." 

 

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned after a meeting with
Sheikh Hamad that Al-Jazeera's coverage of US-led military operations in
Iraq was hurting other strong bilateral ties, and demanded action against
the station by Qatari authorities.

 

US officials have long accused of Al-Jazeera of biased news reporting and
have raised complaints about it with Qatar, whose leader, Emir Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani, is the main backer of the channel. Other Qatari
officials sit on the Al-Jazeera board.

 

In the past, Qatar has shrugged off similar US complaints, citing a desire
to promote a free and vibrant press Over the past several weeks, however,
commanders of the US-led coalition in Iraq have stepped up their criticism
of the station's coverage of hostilities.

 

Sheikh Hamad said he had urged Cheney and Rumsfeld to "be patient" in
resolving violent standoffs pitting US troops and insurgents in the Iraqi
cities of Fallujah and Najaf.



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