UK: Head of al-Jazeera seeks the truth about a leaked report that US president George W. Bush suggested bombing the Qatar-based station

Record ID: 336675

  • Title: UK: Head of al-Jazeera seeks the truth about a leaked report that US president George W. Bush suggested bombing the Qatar-based station
  • Date: 30th November 2005
  • Summary: DEBATE WITH BELL, KHANFAR AND MAGUIRE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAGUIRE SAYING: "The White House has dismissed the allegations as "outlandish". Well I think there is nothing more outlandish than a president threatening to attack the headquarters of an independent TV station in a friendly nation." END OF DEBATE
  • Embargoed: 15th December 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4948W8BDZQ4N23TFVNESCSIQS
  • Story Text: Arabic news channel al-Jazeera's general manager said in London on Monday (November 28) that the network is holding legal consultations regarding action the channel can take following a leaked report that U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to bomb the TV station's headquarters in Doha.
    Waddah Khanfar flew to London on Friday (November 25) to demand an explanation from the British government following a report in the Daily Mirror newspaper on Tuesday (November 22) that a secret British government memo said Prime Minister Tony Blair had talked Bush out of bombing al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar in April last year.
    "The truth is that I came here to London to search for answers to confusing and worrying questions. However it seems that I will be returning without finding any clear answers," al-Jazeera managing director Waddah Khanfar told Reuters at the channel's London bureau.
    "We are now in legal consultations to find out the legal steps we can take. After this I will return to Doha and speak to the board of directors of al-Jazeera so we can study our next steps," he added.
    A delegation from the channel would deliver a letter to Blair on Saturday (November 26) asking for an interview and explanation.
    The White House has said the allegation that Bush wanted to bomb al-Jazeera is "so outlandish" it does not merit a response.
    British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday (November 29) denied receiving any details of a reported U.S. proposal to bomb the Arabic news channel.
    Britain on Tuesday began prosecuting a civil servant and a parliamentarian's aide for leaking the secret memo and refuses to comment on the memo's contents.
    The Daily Mirror quoted one unnamed government official saying Bush's comments may have been a joke, and another unidentified source saying the president appeared to be serious.
    The Mirror's report was picked up by the world's media and prompted al-Jazeera to demand clarification from the United States and Britain.
    At a London debate late on Monday, the newspaper's associate editor Kevin Maguire said he did not believe the reported threat against the broadcaster was a joke.
    Maguire also criticised the U.S. for dismissing the report as "outlandish."
    "I think there is nothing more outlandish than a president threatening to attack the headquarters of an independent TV station in a friendly nation," said Maguire.
    Britain's attorney general has warned other media that they can be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act if they reveal anything else about the memo.
    Al-Jazeera has repeatedly denied U.S. accusations that it sides with insurgents in Iraq. Khanfar said it was time the United States stopped accusing it of supporting terrorism.
    "Al-Jazeera does not see itself as an enemy to anyone and doesn't carry a political agenda to promote or attack any government. We are journalists and see ourselves as skilled journalists and we want to reach the truth no matter where it is and distribute this truth as it is," said Khanfar.
    In 2001, the station's Kabul office was hit by U.S. bombs, and in 2003 al-Jazeera reporter Tareq Ayoub was killed in a U.S. strike on its Baghdad office. The United States has denied deliberately targeting the station.
    "When our offices, or our office in Kabul was bombed and then after that our office in Iraq and our colleague Tareq Ayoub was killed, we were told that these attacks happened by mistake, but now if it appears that what was in this memo is true and if this discussion (between Blair and Bush) about bombing Al-Jazeera really did happen, then no doubt we would reconsider what we were told regarding the bombing of our two offices in Kabul and Baghdad. This brings into doubt the circumstances of those bombings. We now renew our demand for an official investigation into the bombings of our two offices in Kabul and Baghdad and into the killing or our colleague Tareq Ayoub," Khanfar told Reuters.
    The Daily Mirror said Bush told Blair at a White House summit on April 16, 2004 that he wanted to target al-Jazeera.
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