WADAH KHANFAR LOSES POSITION AS MEMBER OF AL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000495

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2012
TAGS: KPAO PREL QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: WADAH KHANFAR LOSES POSITION AS MEMBER OF AL
JAZEERA BOARD; MAY ALSO LOSE JOB MANAGING AL JAZEERA NETWORK

REF: A. 06 DOHA 312

B. 06 DOHA 328

C. 06 DOHA 526

D. 06 DOHA 1614

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


1. (C) Summary: In a long-awaited move, the Amir has
appointed a new board of governors for the Al Jazeera Network
(AJN). Highlights include: the retention of Sheikh Hamad bin
Thamer as chairman; the replacement of Wadah Khanfar as a
board member and possibly as manager of the entire AJ
Network; the appointment of a strongly anti-Khanfar Qatari to
the Board; and the extension of members' period of office
from one year to three years. In our assessment, Khanfar's
position in the Al Jazeera hierarchy has been considerably
weakened by this change. End Summary.


2. (U) An Amiri decree issued May 15 named the seven-member
board as follows:


3. (C) Chairman - Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani(HBT). A
cousin and close friend of the Amir, HBT is the chairman of
Qatar TV and Radio Corporation and is generally the "media"
king in Qatar. He has been in charge of Al Jazeera since its
inception in 1996 and has managed to keep the Al Jazeera
phenomenon in a protective bubble away from any serious
interference by the powerful Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani,
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, who has often
characterized Al Jazeera as a foreign policy "headache."


4. (C) Deputy chairman and Managing Director: Ahmad Abdullah
Al Kholeifi. Also a member of the previous AJ Board and, most
recently, the spokesman for the Doha Asian Games Committee.
Al Kholeifi's star has been on the rise since then. (Note:
The title "Managing Director" assigned to him raises
questions about the current role of Wadah Khanfar (whose
title had been "Director General") as the head of AJN. This
issue is not addressed in the Amiri decree. One of the new
board members told PAO May 16 that he interprets this
specific appointment as meaning that Khanfar will return to
running the Arabic channel and relinquish overall management
of the Network. We will follow up on this important point.
End note.


5. (C) Member: Hamad Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari. New to the AJ
Board, Al Kuwari served as Qatar's last Minister of
Information (the ministry was disbanded in 1996 after the
current amir came to power). A senior Qatari of some stature,
he also served as a member of the committee that drafted
Qatar's constitution and now serves as an adviser to the GCC.
He is known as a moderate, with liberal tendencies and with
something of an Arab nationalist worldview.


6. (U) Member: Abdullah Mubarak Al Kholeifi: A member of the
previous board. A senior employee of Qatar TV and Radio
Corporation. A low-profile personality.


7. (C) Member: Mahmoud Shammam. An American citizen of Libyan
descent, Shammam was a member of the previous board, having
been appointed to it by the Amir personally. Known for his
strongly anti-Khanfar views, Shammam has frequently
criticized Al Jazeera's editorial policies and programming
(Ref C).


8. (C) Member: Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud. New to the Board, Al
Mahmoud previously served as director of Al Jazeera's Arabic
website. He left the position in 2006 after falling out with
Wadah Khanfar (Ref B),and is currently serving as managing
editor of a new Arabic language newspaper, to be launched
later this year. (Note: Al Jazeera also has plans to launch a
new regional newspaper (Ref D). We asked Al Mahmoud whether
this would represent a conflict of interest, and he said the
new newspaper will have a separate board of directors. End
note.)


9. (C) Member: Mariam Rashed Yousouf Al Khater. New to the
Board, and its only woman member, Al Khater currently serves
as head of media for the Supreme Council of Family Affairs
and is a well-known newspaper columnist. She has frequently
called for local media to engage meaningfully with local
issues and is a proponent of a strong, independent media.


DOHA 00000495 002 OF 002



10. (U) The May 15 Amiri decree also stipulated that the
period of office for the new Board will be three years,
instead of one. (Note: It has been an ongoing complaint of
Board members that a one-year period of office is
insufficient to undertake and complete any strategic work
effectively. This change will empower the new board members
in this sense. End note.) With the exception of Mahmoud
Shammam, the current board members are all Qatari citizens.
Ref A reports on the make-up of the previous board.


11. (C)Replaced Board Members:

-- Wadah Khanfar -- Khanfar has recently been the subject of
strong criticism in local media, particularly the daily
Arabic language newspaper, Al Watan. Critics charge that
Khanfar discriminates against Qataris in the hiring practices
of Al Jazeera and thus prevents them from sharing in the
share of Qatari wealth spent on Al Jazeera. The media
campaign against him, taking this local angle, has clearly
borne fruit.

-- Khalf Ahmed Al Mannai -- formerly in the Deputy Chairman
position of the board (without the "Managing Director" title
now assigned to new Deputy Ahmed Al Kholeifi). A reclusive
figure and long-time number two and confidant of HBT.

-- Ilham Al Bader: Host of a popular morning radio talk show,
Ilham Al Bader has recently gone off the air amid rumors of
personality conflicts between her and officials at Qatar
radio.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) It is unclear at the moment whether Wadah Khanfar is
to be replaced both as a board member and as the overall
manager of the Al Jazeera Network, and remain with only
limited duties as the head of the Arabic channel. It is very
clear, however that his overall position has been
considerably weakened. We will report with further analysis
as the situation becomes clearer.
UNTERMEYER