Saddam's agents infiltrated Al Jazeera TV
Sify.com, 03 June 2003

Doha, Qatar - News anchor Adnan al-Shareef was named acting director of Al-Jazeera satellite TV on Tuesday after his predecessor's removal amid reports that Saddam Hussein's spy services had infiltrated the Qatari channel.

Shareef, a Palestinian, was appointed to the post by Al-Jazeera's board of directors chaired by Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, a member of Qatar's ruling family. He succeeds Mohammed Jassem al-Ali, who held the job of director general since the controversial Arabic-language satellite station was launched by Qatar in 1996 until he was sacked a week ago.

Shareef had been expected to become Al-Jazeera's first director, but was dropped in favor of Ali, a Qatari national. He served as head for just one month before the channel was launched, but left for London when he was discarded and took up a job with the BBC's Arabic service, returning to Al-Jazeera as news anchor in 2000.

Shareef, 55, started his journalistic career at the Qatari radio and television corporation in 1970. He stayed there until 1990 when he moved to the BBC's Arabic service and on to the short-lived BBC Arabic television in 1994.

Shareef was given the title of acting director -- as opposed to director general for his predecessor -- and will be operating alongside a number of other directors in the station, including one for a documentary channel expected to be launched soon.

Al-Jazeera and its ex-director general have been accused by Western media of collaborating with the former regime in Baghdad, which Ali visited before the US-led war began on March 20, meeting Saddam during an hour-long interview.

Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the American-backed Iraqi National Congress, has accused several Al-Jazeera journalists of working for Iraqi agencies based on documents found in state archives in Baghdad. Ali, who has retained his post on Al-Jazeera's board of directors, has denied the charges.

London's Sunday Times, quoting documents allegedly obtained in Baghdad, reported on May 11 that Iraqi intelligence agents had infiltrated Al-Jazeera in an effort to influence its coverage.

Jihad Ballout, a spokesman for Al-Jazeera, told AFP last week that the authenticity of the alleged documents had yet to be proved. "It's no secret that some parties don't like Al-Jazeera's independent editorial line," he said.

Ali will "return to Qatari radio and television, where he used to work before being named at the head of Al-Jazeera," Ballout said on May 27. Ballout told AFP Tuesday that Shareef's appointment was announced in an internal circular.

Washington and London blasted Al-Jazeera after the network carried footage from Iraqi television of dead coalition soldiers and prisoners of war, as well as repeated images of Iraqi civilians badly wounded in coalition air strikes.

The 24-hour network has emerged as a rival to international media giants, notably after its ground-breaking reporting of the Afghan conflict, but its no-holds-barred coverage has also sparked rows between Qatar and several Arab governments.

Al-Jazeera last came under US fire days before Ali's dismissal for airing an audiotape of Ayman al-Zawahiri, second in command to al-Qaeda terror chief Osama bin Laden, in which he called on Muslims to force Westerners out of their lands by attacking them and emulating the September 11, 2001 suicide hijackings in the United States.