Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera is being used as a “bargaining tool” by Qatar to further its position internationally, US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks claim. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera has, however, described it as an American assessment only.
In a cable sent on November 19, 2009, Ambassador Joseph E LeBaron wrote that the station could be used "as a bargaining tool to repair relationships with other countries, particularly those soured by al-Jazeera's broadcasts, including the United States" over the next three years.
On July 1, 2009, LeBaron wrote, "Al-Jazeera, the most watched satellite television station in the Middle East, is heavily subsidized by the Qatari government and has proved itself a useful tool for the station's political masters. The station's coverage of events in the Middle East is relatively free and open, though it refrains from criticizing Qatar and its government. Al Jazeera's ability to influence public opinion throughout the region is a substantial source of leverage for Qatar, one which it is unlikely to relinquish. Moreover, the network can also be used as a chip to improve relations. For example, Al Jazeera's more favorable coverage of Saudi Arabia's royal family has facilitated Qatari-Saudi reconciliation over the past year.
The Ambassador's assessment was in response to the Qatari Prime Minister's contention that Qatar want to sell it off, and that Qatar had been offered $5 billion for the news channel at one time. LeBaron described it as a joke.
Al-Jazeera, meanwhile, has dismissed the claims that Qatar uses the news channel as a bargaining chip in foreign policy negotiations. It insisted that the claims were "very far from the truth", and its journalists operate with complete editorial independence despite facing pressure from international governments.
The channel said in a statement on its Website, "This is the US embassy's assessment, and it is very far from the truth. Despite all the pressure Al Jazeera has been subjected to by regional and international governments, it has never changed its bold editorial policies which remain guided by the principles of a free press."
Mark Seddon, a former reporter with the channel, wrote in The Guardian, "But the idea that Al-Jazeera tempers its editorial content at the behest of the emir of Qatar, who mainly finances it, is possibly as fanciful as the WikiLeaks report that US diplomats believed their South Korean counterparts when they said that China might recognise a unified Korea under the aegis of Seoul. Conjecture does not always meet with reality. Al-Jazeera, in its swashbuckling and sometimes disorganised way, has shown itself quite adept at resisting pressure wherever it may come from."
More than Al-Jazeera, the cable is likely to embarrass Qatar, which has steadfastly refused to allow the US to temper the channel's reportage. Al-Jazeera channel was launched in 1996 with a loan of 500 million Qatari riyals (US$137 million) from the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa. It is perceived in the West to be controversial.
