US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI3994

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 003994 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO; NEA/RA; NEA/ARP (DJONES, TWILLIAMS, 
LMALENAS); NEA/PPD (DMACINNES, JKINCANNON, JDAVIES); 
NEA/P (GSULLIVAN, ACASPER, JSMITH); PA 
CPA FOR NKHOURY 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR MOC MHAMBLEY 
 
TAGS: PREL, KMDR, ECON, PGOV, ZP 
SUBJECT:  BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD FACE: AL ARABIYA CHANGES ITS 
VIEWS TO THE ARAB WORLD 
 
REF: (A) SECSTATE 248139; (B) ABU DHABI 03945; (C) DUBAI 03768; 
(D) ABU DHABI 03164; (E) DUBAI 00592; (F) DUBAI 02159 (2002) 
 
CLASSIFIED BY CDA RICHARD ALBRIGHT FOR E.O. 12958 REASONS 1.5 (B) 
AND (D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: During an August 9th broadcast, Arabic Satellite 
News Channel al Arabiya aired videos of militant organizations 
urging Iraqis and Arabs to target "Occupation" forces.  Again on 
August 28th, the station broadcast footage of similarly hooded 
men threatening to kill Iraqi Governing Council members.  These 
controversial videos and other sensational coverage are a 
departure from al Arabiya's formative goal of moderate news 
reporting.  As al Arabiya strives to best al Jazira, an important 
Abu Dhabi TV source pointed out that these broadcasts, and public 
confrontations with the USG, are likely to increase al Arabiya's 
Arab viewership, at least in the short term.  End Summary. 
 
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Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai's Media City 
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2. (C) Al Arabiya Arabic Satellite News Channel is owned 
principally by wealthy Saudi businessman Waleed bin Ibrahim al 
Ibrahim, a principal shareowner of Middle East Broadcasting 
Corporation (MBC), al Arabiya's parent company, and whose sister 
Jawhara bint Ibrahim al Ibrahim is a wife of King Fahd.  Al 
Arabiya's remaining major investors include Lebanese Prime 
Minister Rafiq al Hariri, and reportedly, a number of Omani and 
UAE businessmen.  This list also included several prominent 
Kuwaiti investors, who withdrew during the war with Iraq due to 
al Arabiya's pro-Saddam message.  According to al Arabiya 
sources, however, Kuwaiti businessman and royal family member 
Ahmed al Fahed Al Sabah quietly reinvested after the war. 
 
3. (C) Early in 2002, these investors decided to establish a 
satellite news channel to counter al Jazira's anti-Gulf tones. 
To attract Arab viewers, the investors tapped Salah Najm, ex-al 
Jazira news and current affairs director, to mold the station 
with MBC's current news staff.  To serve as spokesperson, Salah 
enlisted Saleh Qallah, a former Jordanian Information Minister 
who had allowed MBC FM radio broadcasts in Jordan while other 
Arab leaders balked.  Following the station's launch in February 
2003, al Arabiya stuck to its mold initially, producing balanced 
and well-formatted news broadcasts.  As a result, the Saudi 
government requested that al Arabiya launch a Government-owned 
news channel in Riyadh and train its Saudi journalists. 
 
4. (C) Along with CNN, Reuters, CNBC, AP, and a Radio Sawa 
office, MBC and al Arabiya are based in Dubai's Media City (DMC), 
part of the Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Zone 
(TECOM).  TECOM is one of the high-profile initiatives of Sheikh 
Mohammed bin Rashed al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince (and de facto 
ruler) and UAE Minister of Defense, and is supervised by MBR's 
Executive Office.  DMC day-to-day operations are managed by a 
board of directors led by CEO Abdalhamid al Juma', a member of 
the wealthy Dubai al Juma' family.  DMC currently hosts over 350 
organizations, which, for the most part, enjoy unfettered 
operation.  During the past year, these organizations reported 
that they experienced little or no restrictions on the content of 
print and broadcast material produced for use outside the 
country.  Indeed, to promote TECOM's independence, MBR's 
Executive Office allows all tenants a free hand, provided that 
materials do not touch on three taboo subjects: religion, 
pornography, or domestic "political sensitivities," meaning UAE 
families. 
 
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Al Arabiya's Moderate Voice Turns Sour 
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5. (C) The war in Iraq and violence in Israel brought a change in 
al Arabiya's reporting, apparently in reaction to strong public 
sentiment against both.  During the war, al Arabiya aired 
sensational material, such as footage of dead Iraqi civilians and 
captured American POWs, out of a perceived need to compete with 
al Jazira.  On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, al Arabiya 
repeatedly aired Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saying, "I 
am a man of peace," with images of dead Palestinian children and 
IDF bulldozers destroying Palestinian homes.  Since the war's 
end, al Arabiya has persisted in portraying the U.S. presence in 
Iraq as a hostile occupation rather than a liberation.  Some the 
more sensational stories carried on the pan-Arab outlets, 
including al Arabiya, have provoked comment such as the August 
13th "al Sharq al Awsat" column by Iraqi Adnan Husayn claiming 
Arab networks are engaging in "blackmail" and "deceit" in Iraq. 
 
6. (S) According to ORCA sources, al Arabiya has sought to film 
attacks on coalition soldiers.  Nart Bouran, Head of Abu Dhabi 
TV's News Center and close advisor to UAE Ministor of Information 
and Culture Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, confirmed this 
with APAO, noting that al Arabiya used an Iraqi stringer around 
al Ramadi in an attempt to obtain footage of attacks on coalition 
forces.  This was also corroborated by Iraqi Abu Dhabi TV 
cameraman Haydar Jafar, who, after returning from Iraq, informed 
APAO of al Arabiya's same effort. 
 
7. (U) On August 9 and 28, Al Arabiya broadcast videos of hooded 
men claiming to be from the "Islamic Jihad Movement," "White 
Flags," "Organization of Muslim Youth," and "The Army of 
Mohammed."  In the August 9th video, the men criticized Iraqi 
Shi'ite clerics for not declaring jihad against the "Occupation," 
and called upon Iraqis and Arabs to fight the "Occupation."  Most 
recently on August 28th, the men declared their intent to kill 
Iraqi Governing Council members and their supporters, whom they 
labeled "spies" and "traitors." 
 
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Responses to the Videos and US Criticism 
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8. (U) Following the Najaf bombing, Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) 
members Ibrahim Jaafari and Dr. Muhsin Abd al Hamid appeared on 
Al Arabiya and discussed the station's broadcast of the videos. 
Dr. Abd al Hamid noted that "the legal experts in the council say 
that the transmission of such ideas, like inciting people to kill 
members of the Governing Council, is a violation of the law."  In 
his interview, IGC President Jaafari said that, "should some 
channels, God forbid, engage in incitement that tarnishes Iraq's 
reputation and suppresses facts ... I assume a channel should be 
given a warning that it is perceived to be crossing 
internationally accepted red lines" and "if need be, it (the 
channel) can be sued through judicial, civilized means." 
 
9. (U) On August 30th, all UAE Arabic and English dailies carried 
an Agence France Presse (AFP) interview with News Director Salah 
Najm, who responded to criticism of al Arabiya's broadcasts.  In 
the interview, Najm said that "we believe in the freedom of the 
media and the right of people to know."  On their decision to 
broadcast the videos, Najm remarked that al Arabiya "will not 
change their policy" and "we don't take into consideration 
political and security values." 
 
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Confrontation With USG May Increase Arabiya Viewership 
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10. (U) On August 29th, Dubai-based English-language daily "Gulf 
News" ran an editorial entitled "Airing Opinion is Part of Free 
Speech."  The editorial stated that "the United States is wrong 
to criticize al Arabiya TV channel's broadcast of statements by 
(the) men."  The editorial concluded that "the US and the vast 
majority of Arabs will disagree with the speakers.  The right 
course of action is for them to speak out and say that the 
violence that the speakers espouse is totally unacceptable.  The 
attacks on the coalition forces, the UN, and the Jordanian 
embassy are wrong.  They are a destructive use of terror which 
does not serve Iraq at all, and they only help destabilize the 
reconstruction of the country.  But the right of the TV station 
to interview these people, and for speakers to broadcast their 
view should not be in question.  For the US, to call it 
'irresponsible in the extreme' denies the US' own commitment to 
free speech.  The future of Iraq needs a peaceful transition to 
an independent government.  Part of achieving this is to maintain 
an open debate." 
 
11. (C) Abu Dhabi TV Chief News Editor Fahed Hussein told PAO 
INFOSPEC that the recent statements of Acting Department 
Spokesperson DAS Phil Reeker on Al Arabiya "will definitely 
increase Al Arabiya's viewership."  Fahed noted that Al Arabiya's 
controversial (and sometimes false) reporting resonates with the 
anti-American attitudes of the Arab street.  However, Fahed 
pointed out that Al Arabiya's controversial broadcasts "could 
backfire in the long term if the USG stops granting it 
interviews, as European governments and other US allies may do as 
well." 
 
ALBRIGHT