"All we are asking is for balanced reporting," U.S. quote of the day?
----- Original Message ----- From: "Khoder bin Hakkin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 3:30 PM Subject: USG muscles Arab TV stations to present its view > 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>