Doha – The Al Jazeera TV network is Qatar’s best-known product and a visible tool for the country in its strategy to expand its regional and international influence. The news channel drew the world’s attention in the last decade with its comprehensive coverage of Middle Eastern matters, particularly the conflicts, with a different approach than Western channels. It has introduced an “other side” of events into international news broadcasts.
Currently, the network has news channels in Arabic and English, featuring sports and other services, such as documentary production. The shows are broadcast to the four corners of the world. But the Doha-based channel wants more. In an interview to ANBA, the director general of Al Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar, stated that investment in the expansion of services will continue.
He said, for instance, that the company is going to launch new sports and news channels, increase its presence in different countries, invest in new media, and produce shows in languages other than Arabic and English. The executive, however, did not wish to disclose what those languages will be.
But Khanfar claimed that the network is going to increase the scope of its operations in South America and in Brazil. “In 2010, we will see a stronger presence of Al Jazeera in South America. We will have more correspondents in Brazil and Argentina to cover the political and economic dynamics of these countries,” he said.
With regard to sports, he claimed that Brazilian football “is a great product” to be developed. The executive added that the channel is involved in production of documentary films in Brazil, especially on Arab presence in the country.
According to Khanfar, in Qatar and in the Middle East as a whole, Brazil is regarded as an economic success that is on the rise worldwide. “The country adopts economic and political models that are not mere replicas of other Western policies,” he stated. “The Arab world is interested in becoming connected with emerging countries that may provide alternatives to relations with the world powers,” he declared.
Diplomacy
According to him, the country is increasingly attracting the interest of the region’s public opinion, especially after the two Summits of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa), held in Brasília and Doha. He said that president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva commands respect in the Middle East for his statements and actions in the international scenario.
Khanfar placed special emphasis on the agreement that Iran signed regarding its nuclear program, negotiated by Brazil and Turkey. Lula went to Tehran to discuss the agreement shortly after an official visit to Qatar, less than two weeks ago.
“[The agreement] was described [here] as a great diplomatic manoeuvre,” said the executive, adding that earlier on the climate was one of “clear confrontation” due to the threat of imposition of further economic sanctions on Iran by the UN. “But now there is a new political mood in the region, it was a political success for Brazil and Turkey.”
Even though Western powers, in particular the United States, have reacted with scepticism and continue to threaten with sanctions, to Khanfar the agreement has made it harder for them to be approved by the UN Security Council.
“The mood concerning Latin America in the region is better than ever. We feel closer to them than the United States and Europe, especially regarding matters such as Palestine and others,” said Khanfar, who is a Palestinian from Jenin, in the West Bank.
In addition to the talks with Iran, Brazil seeks greater participation in the negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. With that in mind, Lula visited Israel, the West Bank and Jordan in March. The Al Jazeera executive claimed that the trip was met with “positive feedback.” “Most initiatives by the United States and other Western powers are met with scepticism in the Arab world,” he said. “The region is more receptive to initiatives by countries such as Brazil and South Africa, among others,” he added.
In the diplomatic field, the government of Qatar also seeks greater presence and has already obtained palpable results, as is the case with the negotiation that put an end to the political crisis of 2008 in Lebanon, which almost led the small Mediterranean country into a new civil war. Qatar is also sponsoring negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebels in the region of Darfur, in the African country.
“Qatar is becoming a leading mediator in the region. It is achieving success because it keeps an equal distance from all parties,” said Khanfar. “The country is safe for those who come to it to negotiate, because it has no particular interest in the matters [that cause conflict],” he claimed.
To the executive, there is a “strategic vacuum” in the Middle East because more traditional local powers are paralyzed. This situation, according to him, has paved the way for new leaders, such as Turkey, Qatar and Iran itself.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
