Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Did Al Jazeera Help Spread Qaeda Propaganda?! | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Media ID: 55375445
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In this Nov. 1, 2006 file photo, a Qatari employee of Al Jazeera Arabic language TV news channel walks past the logo of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)


Ever since 2003, the Doha-based and state-funded Al Jazeera had served as an outlet for al-Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia.

The media company had actively hosted a number of al-Qaeda members, and aired their documentaries or footage covering attacks the group staged in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi daily Okaz said.

Out in the open, Qatar played a major role by backing Al Jazeera which broadcasted messages by terrorists who threaten the stability and security of its neighboring Gulf state, Saudi Arabia.

According to Okaz, Al Jazeera was virtually the only channel airing all tapes on al-Qaeda operations in Saudi Arabia.

All the more, the Qatar-funded news outlet was the only channel that covered the Saudi judiciary during the trying of al-Qaeda terrorists for their involvement in traveling to Qatar and delivering Al Jazeera recordings of their terror activities.

On that note, the trial of those terrorists exposed four terror rings, after members having visited Doha, meeting with one of the employees of the channel for the purpose of handing over tapes on jobs they carried out inside Saudi territory in order to get the footage aired.

Among the most heinous terrorist crimes that took place in Saudi Arabia and were aired on Al Jazeera were the bombing of the Muhaya residential compound and the bombing of public security building in al Washm area. 

What is more is that the taped wills of four perpetrators who bombed eastern Riyadh were broadcast by the channel, the newspaper said.

The shooting which targeted the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation building, the Al-Khobar Petroleum Center, and the residential Oasis Compound, in the Gulf city of Khobar –otherwise known as the 2004 Khobar massacre-was also among the operations that al-Qaeda terrorists resorted to Al Jazeera as a news outlet.  

After making arrangements with one of Al Jazeera’s journalists, Qatar would host the members of the terror ring and receive their pre-filmed material and documentaries voiced over by the late al-Qaeda militant in Saudi Arabia, Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin.

The Saudi judiciary found that an affiliate of a group composed of 94 terrorists had contacted one of Al Jazeera journalists online in hopes of finding a media outlet for the group.

All the more, he requested further intelligence and information concerning Taliban fighters, and had made mention of Muqrin’s name.

The ring of 90 was also convicted of plotting multiple assassinations against a number of Saudi state officials and security personnel, as well as carrying out terrorist acts targeting oil pipelines and residential compounds.

Moreover, two al-Qaeda members affiliated with an 86-member terror cell in Saudi Arabia were convicted.

One of them was sentenced to 29 years in jail for involvement in terrorist activities, including having traveled to Qatar to deliver to Al Jazeera the videotape containing the final wills and messages of the four Riyadh bombers.

The other was convicted for contacting Al Jazeera and filling them in on the details of him gunning down a hostage. The latter was served a death sentence along with 47 other convicted terrorists last year.