Jordan Times

Gov't summons Qatari ambassador over Al Jazeera programme AMMAN (JT) — Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher on Thursday summoned Qatari Ambassador to Jordan Sheikh Abdul Rahman Ben Jassem Al Thani to convey “the government's strong anger and annoyance” over offensive programmes aired by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel. Muasher was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as telling the envoy that His Majesty King Abdullah, government and people were offended by the news channel.

"What the channel broadcast constituted an offence to every Jordanian, regardless of his/her political background," the minister said.

He stressed that what was broadcast on the channel's talk show programme, "the Opposite Direction," cannot be defended as freedom of expression, but can be termed as “unprecedented and unjustified libel and deliberate twisting of facts and casting doubt on Jordan's history of struggle and its wise Hashemite leadership."

The satellite channel, Muasher noted, is “keen on sensationalism, and goes beyond commercial motives to cheap debates and fabrication of stories.”

He asked Al Thani to convey Jordan's message to the Qatari government.

Doha has been funding Al Jazeera since it started broadcasting in 1996.

The government on Wednesday decided to shut down the offices of Al Jazeera in Amman and warned its staff against conducting any activity in their capacity as Al Jazeera correspondents.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday issued a statement in which it pinned blame on the Qatari government for Al Jazeera's offences against Jordan.

The statement, issued following a meeting chaired by Senate President Zeid Rifai, warned against “the suspicious role of Al Jazeera and its attempts to undermine Arab solidarity.”

The senators questioned the timing of the campaign against Jordan by the news channel. They said the campaign comes at a time when Jordan is continuing with efforts led by King Abdullah to spare the region catastrophic wars, and when the Arab nation is in need more than ever of a united stand in the face of threats.

They said that the Hashemites have throughout history carried the message of Arab unity and worked for the Arab nation's independence and progress.

They added that Al Jazeera “has been established in collaboration with foreign parties known to every one” to spread false information on the Arab countries and works to damage all chances for Arab unity.

The statement added that the way Al Jazeera constructs its news stories depends on well-designed plans aimed at wrecking the fibres of the Arab civilisation and values.

The senators warned Jordanians and all Arabs from the TV station, “whose programmes serve the enemies of the nation.”

In other angry reactions, politicians, leaders of political parties and professional unions criticised Al Jazeera for its “suspicious campaign.”

President of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) Shura Council Abdul Latif Arabiyat told Al Rai and The Jordan Times that at this crucial time the last thing the Arab nation needs is attempts to plant seeds of sedition and create disturbance among the Arabs.

The IAF is the largest opposition party in Jordan.

The centrist National Constitutional Party held an emergency meeting on Thursday in which it discussed the issue and produced a statement condemning Al Jazeera and its fabrications.

The meeting was headed by former Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali, who said that Al Jazeera targets the noblest in the Arab nation by its “poisonous programmes.”

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2002