DAS GRAY'S DECEMBER 1 MEETING WITH AL JAZEERA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001976

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PD, NEA/ARP
INFO NSC FOR ABRAMS, DOD/OSD FOR SCHENKER AND MATHENY
LONDON FOR ARAB MEDIA OFFICE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2010
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: DAS GRAY'S DECEMBER 1 MEETING WITH AL JAZEERA
MANAGING DIRECTOR

REF: DOHA 1593

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, reasons 1.4 (b&d)


1. (C) Summary: DAS Gray met with Al Jazeera Managing
Director Wadah Khanfar December 1 in Doha. Topics discussed
included the Daily Mirror story alleging President Bush
considered bombing Al Jazeera offices in Doha; USG concerns
about Al Jazeera's professionalism, and possible cooperation
in the field of journalist exchanges with the USG. Khanfar
also made a plea for senior USG appearances on Al Jazeera and
for USG support in re-opening Al Jazeera's Baghdad bureau.
End summary.

The Daily Mirror Story
--------------

2. (C) DAS Gray met with Khanfar December 1 at the Al Jazeera
offices in Doha. Also attending the meeting were Al Jazeera
Deputy Chief Editor Ayman Gaballah, NEA/ARPI Desk Officer
Shawn Thorne and PAO Mirembe Nantongo. The meeting took place
upon Khanfar's return from a trip to London, where he had
sought without success an appointment with Prime Minister
Blair concerning the leaked classified memo allegedly
containing indications that President Bush considered bombing
Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters in April 2004. Khanfar raised
the issue at the start of the meeting, telling DAS Gray
humorously that Al Jazeera had not been sure that the meeting
with DAS Gray should be held at AJ offices "for your own
safety." DAS Gray responded by noting that the White House
dismissed the story, as had Prime Minister Blair. Such
allegations cannot be taken seriously, he said. The USG has
its differences with Al Jazeera, stemming from the latter's
lack of professionalism, but Administration officials do
appear on Al Jazeera - which also has a long-established
bureau in Washington - and the US is a strong supporter of
freedom of the press.


3. (C) "We want to know the truth, we need either denial or
confirmation," said Khanfar. He said the story has generated
"panic, speculation and suspicion" among Al Jazeera staffers
and has created an uncomfortable environment. The effect has
also been material, said Khanfar, claiming that landlords of
Al Jazeera bureaus overseas are now looking askance at their
tenants, and that insurance companies have been reconsidering
their premiums. "I myself have suspended judgment until I
know for sure that the discussion took place," said Khanfar.
(Note: The story, and speculation concerning its veracity or
lack thereof, continues to play in the local press, most
recently as a result of a December 10 seminar co-hosted in
Doha by Al Jazeera and the Qatar Red Crescent Society on the
role of journalists in enhancing respect for human rights.
Khanfar was a speaker at the conference and repeated his call
for "the truth about the memo." The seminar received wide
local coverage. End note.) Khanfar then referred to incidents
in the past when coalition forces accidentally struck Al
Jazeera offices in Baghdad and Kabul. "There was no proper
investigation, no apology, no-one said anything," he
complained, adding that whenever any other news service in
Iraq or Afghanistan suffered damage or injury to its premises
or staff they received some sort of message of
acknowledgement/condolence from coalition authorities.

Concern over Al Jazeera's journalistic practices
-------------- ---

4.(C) DAS Gray then moved on to reiterate the list of USG
concerns over Al Jazeera's lack of professionalism. Khanfar
responded at length that Al Jazeera is not "anti-US" and does
not espouse any kind of "anti-US editorial policy", upon
which DAS Gray pointed out that USG concerns center on Al
Jazeera's journalistic practices and not on whether the
station is anti- or pro-US. "We are not asking Al Jazeera to
become a tool of the US Government; what we are asking for is
its professionalism," said Gray. Khanfar went on to note
that, contrary to popular belief, Al Jazeera has never
broadcast tapes showing beheadings. He said he also believed
that Arab intelligence services are working against Al
Jazeera in an attempt to discredit it for their own purposes,
without specifying in what way he believed these services
operate against Al Jazeera.


Al Jazeera-USG Cooperation?
--------------


5. (C) DAS Gray then asked Khanfar for his thoughts on
possible USG/Al Jazeera cooperation, specifically in the area
of boosting Al Jazeera's professionalism. DAS Gray described
the International Visitor program implemented by the USG all
over the world and asked if Khanfar felt AJ journalists might
benefit from such a program. Khanfar acquiesced immediately.
He said many AJ journalists have "a very generalized picture
of America." A visit to the United States would certainly
help them appreciate "the complexity" of American society,
particularly with regard to decision-making apparatus of the
U.S. Government and would correct "the perceptual filter"
currently in place, he said. (Note: In a December 7
discussion with PAO on the same theme, AJ Chief Editor Ahmed
Sheikh, who himself participated in an IV program in 1984,
also welcomed the idea, noting that a stint in a US
television newsroom would be very beneficial to AJ
journalists and producers. End note.) Khanfar also noted that
a group of U.S. journalists would be welcome to spend a week
or so in the Al Jazeera newsroom.

What AJ wants from the USG
--------------


6. (C) Khanfar also reiterated two familiar themes, asking
for more senior USG officials to appear on Al Jazeera and for
support for the re-opening of AJ's Baghdad bureau. "We are
not hoping for Donald Rumsfeld, but it has been a long time
since Secretary Rice was on Al Jazeera," he said. He noted
President Bush's recent appearance on Al Arabiyya, which Al
Jazeera viewed as sending a pointed message to Al Jazeera:
"the message to Al Jazeera of exclusion was clear." Khanfar
also asked for USG support in re-opening the Al Jazeera
bureau in Baghdad. The Iraq dossier has two key elements, he
said, the security aspect and the political aspect. Al
Jazeera is able to cover the security aspect using non-Al
Jazeera journalists on the ground and footage from wire
services, but it is next to impossible to cover the political
aspect effectively from a distance. "During the last year,
security has become an overwhelming part of things. But
coverage of the political side is needed," Khanfar said. He
added that Al Jazeera recently received a visit from senior
Iraqi Shi'a representative Abdel Aziz Al Hakim, of the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who in
the past vehemently refused to consider the possibility of
re-opening the Al Jazeera Baghdad bureau (reftel). Al Hakim
was more conciliatory during his recent visit, said Khanfar,
and broached the possibility of cooperation with Al Jazeera.
Khanfar said he made no promises, given that Al Jazeera
cannot have special arrangements with any political elements
and is waiting to see what transpires.
UNTERMEYER