Al-Jazeera at the centre of the Gulf diplomatic crisis

Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster that has found itself at the centre of the Gulf diplomatic crisis, was launched in 1996, and has since grown to become the most-watched TV channel in the Arab world. Four Arab states that imposed a boycott on Qatar have issued an ultimatum to Doha to close al-Jazeera television, curb ties with Iran, shut a Turkish base and pay reparations, demands so far reaching it would appear to be hard for Doha to comply. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have sent a 13-point list of demands apparently aimed at dismantling their tiny but wealthy neighbour’s two-decade-old interventionist foreign policy which has incensed them. Kuwait is helping mediate the dispute. Qatar has been given 10 days to meet the demands, which apparently include a call to close down broadcaster al-Jazeera, but Doha said the requests were unrealistic. US President Donald Trump has backed the sanctions, even as his Defence and State departments have tried to remain neutral, resulting in mixed signals. Trump called Qatar a “funder of terrorism at a very high level”, only for his Pentagon to approve selling it $12bn of warplanes five days later. Qatar on Saturday denounced a sweeping list of demands from Saudi Arabia and its allies in an escalating Gulf diplomatic crisis as unreasonable and an impingement on the emirate’s sovereignty. Al-Jazeera was praised for its in-depth coverage of the Arab spring, which commenced in 2010, but since then has been criticised by other countries in the region for supporting pro-Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Three al-Jazeera journalists were jailed in Egypt in 2015 for reporting on events in Cairo. The broadcaster has also been criticised for referring to Islamic State as “the state organisation”, rather than the Arabic acronym “Daesh”, and suicide bombers as “shaheed”, which translates as martyr in English. Al-Jazeera has denied this shows it supports extremism and said it is “not partisan to any ideology, group or government”. Now Saudi Arabia has demanded Qatar close down the broadcaster as part of a threatening 13-point ultimatum as the price for lifting a two-week trade and diplomatic embargo. Al-Jazeera has condemned the call for its closure as “nothing but an attempt to end freedom of expression in the region, and suppress the right to information”. Journalist organisations around the world have expressed their outrage at the threats to al-Jazeera. In Britain, the National Union of Journalists said demands against the broadcaster were “shameful acts to clamp down on freedom of expression and the media” and pledged to raise the issue with “the relevant diplomatic representatives in London”.