Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Bahrain officially suspends new Al-Arab channel | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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This file picture taken on December 15, 2014 shows Al-Arab news channel staff on duty at the editorial office in the Bahraini capital Manama. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Al-Shaikh)


This file picture taken on December 15, 2014 shows Al-Arab news channel staff on duty at the editorial office in the Bahraini capital Manama. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

This file picture taken on December 15, 2014 shows Al-Arab news channel staff on duty at the editorial office in the Bahraini capital Manama. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat—Bahrain’s government suspended a new Saudi-owned news channel on Monday due to what authorities said was its failure to acquire the required licensing to broadcast in the island kingdom.

The Al-Arab channel “had also failed to match the standards of regional and international practice agreements, to take account of efforts aimed at stemming the tide of extremism and terrorism throughout the region and the wider world,” Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.

The channel was reported to the Higher Authority of Media and Communications, which then led to a decision by the cabinet to suspend it, the statement added.

Al-Arab was launched on February 1 but was then taken off air only hours after it began broadcasting. Some observers have speculated this was due to its airing an interview with Khalil Marzouq, a prominent Bahraini opposition activist and member of Al-Wefaq, the largest opposition group in the country.

But Minister of Information Isa Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi denied this was the reason, telling Asharq Al-Awsat the airing of the interview “had nothing to do with why Al-Arab was suspended.”

The IAA also stressed that the decision had had “no impact upon principles of media freedom” in Bahrain and was strictly based on the government’s “commitment to ensuring the diversity and impartiality of media outlets” in the country.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, however, some regional media observers noted that the channel was already no stranger to controversy even before it began airing.

They speculated that some of Al-Arab’s editorial stances and programming choices were indeed responsible for its suspension.

One source mentioned Al-Arab’s general manager, who said recently he would have no problems conducting an on-air interview on the channel with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

According to another observer, the channel was suspended because it aired a program from Riyadh dealing with internal Saudi affairs and also “put the spotlight” on the Muslim Brotherhood organization—banned in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states—in some of its programs.