This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001976 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PD, NEA/ARP 
INFO NSC FOR ABRAMS, DOD/OSD FOR SCHENKER AND MATHENY 
LONDON FOR ARAB MEDIA OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2010 
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: DAS GRAY'S DECEMBER 1 MEETING WITH AL JAZEERA 
MANAGING DIRECTOR 
 
REF: DOHA 1593 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, reasons 1.4 (b&d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: DAS Gray met with Al Jazeera Managing 
Director Wadah Khanfar December 1 in Doha. Topics discussed 
included the Daily Mirror story alleging President Bush 
considered bombing Al Jazeera offices in Doha; USG concerns 
about Al Jazeera's professionalism, and possible cooperation 
in the field of journalist exchanges with the USG. Khanfar 
also made a plea for senior USG appearances on Al Jazeera and 
for USG support in re-opening Al Jazeera's Baghdad bureau. 
End summary. 
 
The Daily Mirror Story 
---------------------- 
¶2. (C) DAS Gray met with Khanfar December 1 at the Al Jazeera 
offices in Doha. Also attending the meeting were Al Jazeera 
Deputy Chief Editor Ayman Gaballah, NEA/ARPI Desk Officer 
Shawn Thorne and PAO Mirembe Nantongo. The meeting took place 
upon Khanfar's return from a trip to London, where he had 
sought without success an appointment with Prime Minister 
Blair concerning the leaked classified memo allegedly 
containing indications that President Bush considered bombing 
Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters in April 2004. Khanfar raised 
the issue at the start of the meeting, telling DAS Gray 
humorously that Al Jazeera had not been sure that the meeting 
with DAS Gray should be held at AJ offices "for your own 
safety." DAS Gray responded by noting that the White House 
dismissed the story, as had Prime Minister Blair. Such 
allegations cannot be taken seriously, he said. The USG has 
its differences with Al Jazeera, stemming from the latter's 
lack of professionalism, but Administration officials do 
appear on Al Jazeera - which also has a long-established 
bureau in Washington - and the US is a strong supporter of 
freedom of the press. 
 
¶3. (C) "We want to know the truth, we need either denial or 
confirmation," said Khanfar. He said the story has generated 
"panic, speculation and suspicion" among Al Jazeera staffers 
and has created an uncomfortable environment. The effect has 
also been material, said Khanfar, claiming that landlords of 
Al Jazeera bureaus overseas are now looking askance at their 
tenants, and that insurance companies have been reconsidering 
their premiums. "I myself have suspended judgment until I 
know for sure that the discussion took place," said Khanfar. 
(Note: The story, and speculation concerning its veracity or 
lack thereof, continues to play in the local press, most 
recently as a result of a December 10 seminar co-hosted in 
Doha by Al Jazeera and the Qatar Red Crescent Society on the 
role of journalists in enhancing respect for human rights. 
Khanfar was a speaker at the conference and repeated his call 
for "the truth about the memo." The seminar received wide 
local coverage. End note.) Khanfar then referred to incidents 
in the past when coalition forces accidentally struck Al 
Jazeera offices in Baghdad and Kabul. "There was no proper 
investigation, no apology, no-one said anything," he 
complained, adding that whenever any other news service in 
Iraq or Afghanistan suffered damage or injury to its premises 
or staff they received some sort of message of 
acknowledgement/condolence from coalition authorities. 
 
Concern over Al Jazeera's journalistic practices 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4.(C) DAS Gray then moved on to reiterate the list of USG 
concerns over Al Jazeera's lack of professionalism. Khanfar 
responded at length that Al Jazeera is not "anti-US" and does 
not espouse any kind of "anti-US editorial policy", upon 
which DAS Gray pointed out that USG concerns center on Al 
Jazeera's journalistic practices and not on whether the 
station is anti- or pro-US. "We are not asking Al Jazeera to 
become a tool of the US Government; what we are asking for is 
its professionalism," said Gray. Khanfar went on to note 
that, contrary to popular belief, Al Jazeera has never 
broadcast tapes showing beheadings. He said he also believed 
that Arab intelligence services are working against Al 
Jazeera in an attempt to discredit it for their own purposes, 
without specifying in what way he believed these services 
operate against Al Jazeera. 
 
 
Al Jazeera-USG Cooperation? 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) DAS Gray then asked Khanfar for his thoughts on 
possible USG/Al Jazeera cooperation, specifically in the area 
of boosting Al Jazeera's professionalism. DAS Gray described 
the International Visitor program implemented by the USG all 
over the world and asked if Khanfar felt AJ journalists might 
benefit from such a program. Khanfar acquiesced immediately. 
He said many AJ journalists have "a very generalized picture 
of America." A visit to the United States would certainly 
help them appreciate "the complexity" of American society, 
particularly with regard to decision-making apparatus of the 
U.S. Government and would correct "the perceptual filter" 
currently in place, he said. (Note: In a December 7 
discussion with PAO on the same theme, AJ Chief Editor Ahmed 
Sheikh, who himself participated in an IV program in 1984, 
also welcomed the idea, noting that a stint in a US 
television newsroom would be very beneficial to AJ 
journalists and producers. End note.) Khanfar also noted that 
a group of U.S. journalists would be welcome to spend a week 
or so in the Al Jazeera newsroom. 
 
What AJ wants from the USG 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Khanfar also reiterated two familiar themes, asking 
for more senior USG officials to appear on Al Jazeera and for 
support for the re-opening of AJ's Baghdad bureau. "We are 
not hoping for Donald Rumsfeld, but it has been a long time 
since Secretary Rice was on Al Jazeera," he said. He noted 
President Bush's recent appearance on Al Arabiyya, which Al 
Jazeera viewed as sending a pointed message to Al Jazeera: 
"the message to Al Jazeera of exclusion was clear." Khanfar 
also asked for USG support in re-opening the Al Jazeera 
bureau in Baghdad. The Iraq dossier has two key elements, he 
said, the security aspect and the political aspect. Al 
Jazeera is able to cover the security aspect using non-Al 
Jazeera journalists on the ground and footage from wire 
services, but it is next to impossible to cover the political 
aspect effectively from a distance. "During the last year, 
security has become an overwhelming part of things. But 
coverage of the political side is needed," Khanfar said. He 
added that Al Jazeera recently received a visit from senior 
Iraqi Shi'a representative Abdel Aziz Al Hakim, of the 
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who in 
the past vehemently refused to consider the possibility of 
re-opening the Al Jazeera Baghdad bureau (reftel). Al Hakim 
was more conciliatory during his recent visit, said Khanfar, 
and broached the possibility of cooperation with Al Jazeera. 
Khanfar said he made no promises, given that Al Jazeera 
cannot have special arrangements with any political elements 
and is waiting to see what transpires. 
UNTERMEYER