News director quits Al Jazeera amid revelation of biased coverage

A member of the Qatari royal family has been named the new director-general of the Al Jazeera news network following the resignation of its long-time news director on Tuesday. The New York Times reported that the move follows a WikiLeaks revelation that the Qatari-financed network skewed its coverage of the Iraq War at the behest of the U.S.

Wadah Khanfar, who has been Al Jazeera’s director-general for the past eight years, resigned on Tuesday. Rumors as to his motivation immediately began swirling around the media and blogosphere, with the Guardian writing, “It is thought that Khanfar had become too independent a figure for the Qataris, and that he had come under pressure from them.”

The New York Times, however, pointed to a WikiLeaks cable from Oct. 2005, written by the U.S. ambassador in Qatar, Chase Untermeyer, in which he described a meeting with Khanfar that involved handing over reports from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency that were critical of Al Jazeera's coverage on the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“Mr. Khanfar said that the Qatari Foreign Ministry had already provided him with two months of the American reports, according to the cable, suggesting a close three-way consultation involving the two governments and the network,” The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

“In the cable Mr. Khanfar appeared eager to convince the American official that Al Jazeera was trying to be fair,” the report said. “He said he was preparing a written response to the points raised in the intelligence reports, according to the cable. In at least one instance, involving a report on the network’s website, Mr. Khanfar said in the cable that he had changed coverage at the American official’s request. He said he had removed two images depicting wounded children in a hospital and a woman with a badly wounded face.”

Al Jazeera has made no official statement on the change. On Tuesday, Khanfar released a flurry of tweets on his personal twitter account, including, “After 8 years of service leading Al Jazeera, I have just announced that I am moving on,” “I think everyone will agree that Al Jazeera is stronger than ever. Our coverage has been exceptional and is now widely viewed,” and, “Entertained by all the rumors of why I have resigned. #whatdoyouthink? :-).”

Khafar is being replaced by Sheik Ahmad bin Jasem bin Muhammad Al-Thani, a businessman and member of the Qatari royal family.

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