VZCZCXRO6580
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHDO #0495/01 1360855
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 160855Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6602
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1031
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//PASS TO USCENTCOM FWD//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000495 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PD, NEA/ARP 
INFO NSC FOR ABRAMS, DOD/OSD FOR SCHENKER AND MATHENY 
LONDON FOR ARAB MEDIA OFFICE 
DUBAI FOR PAO AND MEDIA HUB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2012 
TAGS: KPAO PREL QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: WADAH KHANFAR LOSES POSITION AS MEMBER OF AL 
JAZEERA BOARD; MAY ALSO LOSE JOB MANAGING AL JAZEERA NETWORK 
 
REF: A. 06 DOHA 312 
     ¶B. 06 DOHA 328 
     ¶C. 06 DOHA 526 
     ¶D. 06 DOHA 1614 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, reasons 1.4 (b&d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In a long-awaited move, the Amir has 
appointed a new board of governors for the Al Jazeera Network 
(AJN). Highlights include: the retention of Sheikh Hamad bin 
Thamer as chairman; the replacement of Wadah Khanfar as a 
board member and possibly as manager of the entire AJ 
Network; the appointment of a strongly anti-Khanfar Qatari to 
the Board; and the extension of members' period of office 
from one year to three years. In our assessment, Khanfar's 
position in the Al Jazeera hierarchy has been considerably 
weakened by this change. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) An Amiri decree issued May 15 named the seven-member 
board as follows: 
 
¶3. (C) Chairman - Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani(HBT). A 
cousin and close friend of the Amir, HBT is the chairman of 
Qatar TV and Radio Corporation and is generally the "media" 
king in Qatar. He has been in charge of Al Jazeera since its 
inception in 1996 and has managed to keep the Al Jazeera 
phenomenon in a protective bubble away from any serious 
interference by the powerful Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, 
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, who has often 
characterized Al Jazeera as a foreign policy "headache." 
 
¶4. (C) Deputy chairman and Managing Director: Ahmad Abdullah 
Al Kholeifi. Also a member of the previous AJ Board and, most 
recently, the spokesman for the Doha Asian Games Committee. 
Al Kholeifi's star has been on the rise since then. (Note: 
The title "Managing Director" assigned to him raises 
questions about the current role of Wadah Khanfar (whose 
title had been "Director General") as the head of AJN. This 
issue is not addressed in the Amiri decree. One of the new 
board members told PAO May 16 that he interprets this 
specific appointment as meaning that Khanfar will return to 
running the Arabic channel and relinquish overall management 
of the Network. We will follow up on this important point. 
End note. 
 
¶5. (C) Member: Hamad Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari. New to the AJ 
Board, Al Kuwari served as Qatar's last Minister of 
Information (the ministry was disbanded in 1996 after the 
current amir came to power). A senior Qatari of some stature, 
he also served as a member of the committee that drafted 
Qatar's constitution and now serves as an adviser to the GCC. 
He is known as a moderate, with liberal tendencies and with 
something of an Arab nationalist worldview. 
 
¶6. (U) Member: Abdullah Mubarak Al Kholeifi: A member of the 
previous board. A senior employee of Qatar TV and Radio 
Corporation. A low-profile personality. 
 
¶7. (C) Member: Mahmoud Shammam. An American citizen of Libyan 
descent, Shammam was a member of the previous board, having 
been appointed to it by the Amir personally. Known for his 
strongly anti-Khanfar views, Shammam has frequently 
criticized Al Jazeera's editorial policies and programming 
(Ref C). 
 
¶8. (C) Member: Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud. New to the Board, Al 
Mahmoud previously served as director of Al Jazeera's Arabic 
website. He left the position in 2006 after falling out with 
Wadah Khanfar (Ref B), and is currently serving as managing 
editor of a new Arabic language newspaper, to be launched 
later this year. (Note: Al Jazeera also has plans to launch a 
new regional newspaper (Ref D). We asked Al Mahmoud whether 
this would represent a conflict of interest, and he said the 
new newspaper will have a separate board of directors. End 
note.) 
 
¶9. (C) Member: Mariam Rashed Yousouf Al Khater. New to the 
Board, and its only woman member, Al Khater currently serves 
as head of media for the Supreme Council of Family Affairs 
and is a well-known newspaper columnist. She has frequently 
called for local media to engage meaningfully with local 
issues and is a proponent of a strong, independent media. 
 
 
DOHA 00000495  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶10. (U) The May 15 Amiri decree also stipulated that the 
period of office for the new Board will be three years, 
instead of one. (Note: It has been an ongoing complaint of 
Board members that a one-year period of office is 
insufficient to undertake and complete any strategic work 
effectively. This change will empower the new board members 
in this sense. End note.) With the exception of Mahmoud 
Shammam, the current board members are all Qatari citizens. 
Ref A reports on the make-up of the previous board. 
 
¶11. (C)Replaced Board Members: 
 
-- Wadah Khanfar -- Khanfar has recently been the subject of 
strong criticism in local media, particularly the daily 
Arabic language newspaper, Al Watan. Critics charge that 
Khanfar discriminates against Qataris in the hiring practices 
of Al Jazeera and thus prevents them from sharing in the 
share of Qatari wealth spent on Al Jazeera. The media 
campaign against him, taking this local angle, has clearly 
borne fruit. 
 
-- Khalf Ahmed Al Mannai -- formerly in the Deputy Chairman 
position of the board (without the "Managing Director" title 
now assigned to new Deputy Ahmed Al Kholeifi). A reclusive 
figure and long-time number two and confidant of HBT. 
 
-- Ilham Al Bader: Host of a popular morning radio talk show, 
Ilham Al Bader has recently gone off the air amid rumors of 
personality conflicts between her and officials at Qatar 
radio. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (C) It is unclear at the moment whether Wadah Khanfar is 
to be replaced both as a board member and as the overall 
manager of the Al Jazeera Network, and remain with only 
limited duties as the head of the Arabic channel. It is very 
clear, however that his overall position has been 
considerably weakened. We will report with further analysis 
as the situation becomes clearer. 
UNTERMEYER