Al Jazeera TV

News From Qatar

The capital city of Doha

• March 3, 2007:
  Qatar's prime minister Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani resigned Tuesday and the country's emir has appointed the foreign minister as replacement, the government's Qatar News Agency reported on its Web site. The new prime minister is Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al Thani,

   

• Dec.31,2005: Qatari residents are gearing up to celebrate the New Year's Eve and Eid holidays with lavish parties, desert camping and a number of attractions offered by the local tourism authorities this year.

• Dec.30,2005: Qatar's population is expected to cross 838,000 by mid-2006, an increase of over 100,000 compared to the 2004 census, Qatar's Planning Council said. According to the Annual Statistical Abstract published by the Planning Council, the Qatari population could reach 838,065 from the 744,029 of March 2004.

  However, Kuwait-based think-tank Global Investment House (GIH), said Qatar's population would grow even faster than the Planning Council estimated and cross the 1 million mark very soon.

The country's population has doubled in 18 years from 369,079 in 1986 to 744,029 in March 2004.

The annual growth rate since 1997 has been 5.2 per cent.

The majority (over 358,000) is concentrated in Doha city.

77 per cent of the population above 15 years is economically active.

70.3 per cent of the country's population in the 15 years and above category is married.

• April 23, 2005: The rise of meningitis cases in Qatar has prompted the health authorities to recommend vaccination against the disease to all travellers heading to affected countries, including Saudi Arabia.

   

• Feb.5, 2005: A videotape found in a pile of documents in Baghdad following the collapse of Saddam Hussain's regime shows a former manager of the Al Jazeera satellite channel thanking one of Saddam's sons for his support and telling him that "Al Jazeera is your channel," the Asharq Al Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.  According to Asharq Al Awsat's report, the tape of the March 13, 2000, meeting shows former Al Jazeera manager Mohammad Jassem Al Ali telling Uday Hussain, "Al Jazeera is your channel," and Uday recalls that he proposed "some ideas" in previous meetings that led to "some changes" in political coverage, including the introduction of new hosts on Al Jazeera programmes. Al Jazeera dismissed Al Ali from his post shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. No reason was given for the dismissal, but many in the Arab press speculated that Al Ali was receiving support from Saddam's government.

• Nov.25,2003: The Amir of Qatar has fired the manager of Jazzier TV Mr. Mohammad Al Ali, on allegation that he was cooperating and working for the ex-Iraqi regime of Saddam Husain. It was reported also that he was receiving money from Saddam government. However the President and Vice presidents kept their jobs although they have some interest with Saddam.

• July 27, 2003:The Qatari television network Al Jazeera said on Sunday U.S. forces had arrested their correspondent and driver in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul while they filmed an attack on American troops.

• May 28,2003 : In a devastating blow to its reputation, Al-Jazeera said yesterday that its general director has been sacked after allegations were made that he worked with Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services. Mohammed Jassem Al-Ali visited Iraq before the US-led war, meeting Saddam during an hour-long interview. Both Al-Jazeera and Ali were afterward accused by the Western media of collaborating with the former regime in Baghdad. Ali had held the top job at the Doha-based station since it launched the Arabic-language channel in 1996. Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the American-backed Iraqi National Congress, has accused several Al-Jazeera journalists of working for Iraqi agencies based on documents found in state archives in Baghdad.

• May 15,2003:Qatar has launched an on-line visa service allowing nationals of 33 countries to obtain visas online.
  Nationals of the following countries are eligible for the service: U.S., UK, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Finland, Spain, Monaco, Iceland, Vatican City, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Bru-nei, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Hong Kong.
  The move is part of the Qatar's e-government initiative launched to achieve the highest performance in executing governmental transactions electronically through streamlined business processes. This is a very advanced policy , we hope all other GCc can do the same..

• May 7,2003:Qatari women yesterday celebrated the appointment of the first woman minister in the history of the state.
  In what has been considered a strong move towards the implementation of  democratic reform , His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, appointed the country's first woman Cabinet minister. Way to go, what about Saudia Arabia,& Kuwait?
  

• April 6,2003:Qatari men and women vote Monday for the second time in the history of this Gulf state, in the middle of a war on Iraq that the United States hopes will usher democracy into more of the Arab world.

• March 30,2003: Blasted by Washington and London for beaming distressing pictures from Iraq, al-Jazeera television from Qatar , said on Sunday it would not censor the horrors of war. The 24-hour, Arabic-language, broadcaster deliberated carefully before beaming pictures that could be especially troublesome to viewers. AL Jazeerah is really looking for trouble with all the civilized world...watch out??!!

• Feb.23,2003: A Qatar Airways plane en route to London made an emergency landing in Damascus yesterday following a bomb threat but security forces have so far failed to find any explosives on board, Syrian officials said.
  A second Qatari aircraft bound for Doha was delayed in Cairo after a note was discovered on the plane saying it would blow up, but a search found no explosives.

• Jan.20,2003: IN QATAR, THE government’s parallel policies can be perplexing. On one hand, Qatar’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani is allowing one of his army bases to be transformed into a wartime headquarters for the American military.
  On the other hand, Qatar has pursued close ties with Iraq and has never called publicly for the ouster of Saddam.
   The country’s religious leaders sometimes paint the U.S. presence in the region as imperialist, while Qataris owe their high standard of living to the billion-dollar investments made by U.S. oil and gas companies in Qatar.
   Al-Jazeera, the groundbreaking, pan-Arabic satellite channel funded by Sheikh Hamad, regularly blasts U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf, but it scarcely mentions the emir’s open arms strategy toward Washington.

• July 14, 2002: Huge quantities of Israeli products are invading the Qatari market , the government promised to investigate the matter.

• July 27, 2001: Qatar Airways plans to sue Jordanian government in the case when Jordan impounded a plane after it flew an exiled Hamas leader from Qatar to Jordan.

• June 24, 2001: Qatar’s appeals court yesterday upheld a two-year jail sentence for a US national found guilty of "harming" the Arab Gulf emirate on the Internet. Luay Abdullah , an American of Palestinian origin who grew up in Qatar and worked at the Foreign Ministry, will be deported after serving the sentence.

• June 16, 2001: A deported leader of Hamas in Jordan, Ibrahim Ghosheh, 65, was stranded in Amman's Alia Airport for the third day yesterday, as officials in Qatar refused to take him back. Ghosheh arrived in Amman Thursday night on a regular Qatari flight from Doha. A Qatar Airways official in Amman said all flights to the Jordanian capital were suspended pending the resolution of the standoff. He gave no further details. The Qatar plane was still grounded on the tarmac after authorities told the pilot that passengers would not be allowed to board the plane if he did not take Ghosheh back.Ghosheh and three other senior Hamas officials were deported to Qatar in November 1999 after being held for three months on charges of belonging to an illegal group and threatening Jordan's security. What a mess Qatar is putting her hand on..

• June 15, 2001:  Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil  signed a letter of intent on Saturday to conduct a technical feasibility study for a gas-to-liquids plant in this Gulf state.

• June 12, 2001: Al-Jasserah TV channel ( from Qatar) must pay a fine imposed by a Kuwaiti court for insulting Kuwaiti citizen in one of the talk shows it hosted. 

• Nov23,000: An Internet project in Qatar is aimed at helping children and it has a marriage search that can help individual Moslem to find a wife. The site also have Islamic Fatwa. Please check the site www.islam-online.net

• Nov.18,2000: Saddam Husain gets a Boeing 747 plane as a gift from Qatar. Also Iraq & Qatar agree on making a common Airline , it might be called Saddam/Khalifa Airline.

• Oct.25,2000: Qatar refuse to close down the Iraqi consulate office , even after the threats Iraq made against GCC countries.

• Sept 4, 2000: A man ( from Qatar ) was caught in Egyptian Airport trying to smuggle Falcons in a box. Falcons are considered a protected species and they are banned from export in Egypt.

• Sept 4, 2000: Qatar government launch a plan for an electronic government. All governmental transactions & documents will be processed through the Internet. In the 1st phase , 10 government organization will be connected to the Internet.

• The Amir of Qatar has invited Saddam Husian to the Islamic Conference due to be held in Doha ( Qatar) in November. It is to be noted that Qatar established relation with Iraq after 7 months of liberating Kuwait , because of Saudia Arabia invasion of a Qatari border post. 

• The Amir of Qatar had visited Israel and signed an agreement for the export of Oil and Gas to Israel.

• Again Qatar is creating a problem with Bahrain over its claim over some islands. It seems their conflict will not be resolved by the new Rulers.

• Is Qatar Ruler credible, after the overthrown his father and kicked him out of the country. This is a struggle of power between father and son in a small tribal nation.

• The former Amir and his son, the new Amir , have settled their fight after they have agreed for a multi-billion dollars settlement.

• The Ruler of Qatar "Hamad Bin Khalifa" ordered his secret Police to hijack his uncle Sheikh "Hamad Bin Jassim AL Thani" plane from Beirut and detained him in person and was charged with planning for an over through of the new ruler. The Qatari Government deny the matter and reported that Sheikh Hamad returned by his own well. 

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim agreed to return to Qatar after he got assurances that he would be allowed to lead a normal life and not face charges. Among the conditions laid down by Hamad Bin Jassim a break of relation between Qatar & Israel as well as release of all political prisoners. A Qatari intelligence officer named Mubarek assured Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim during a visit to Lebanon that his conditions has been accepted , however he was asked never to talk or criticize the relations between Qatar & Israel. A Qatari secret agent hijacked the plane , when the Sheikh was on board traveling to another country in the region and diverted the plane to Qatar.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim was arrested on landing. Qatar accused him of masterminding the Feb. 1996 counter coup. More than 120 people were on trial , including some foreigners.

• Kuwait ends ban on the Qatari Satellite station AL Jazzier. The ban was made after an Iraqi viewer insulted the Amir of Kuwait. The channel failed to interrupt the viewer or apologies to the viewers for bad insult in a figure of state. It is obvious that many of the Jazzier staff are motivated by the Qatari government and financially supported by Iraq to continue their attacks on Kuwait and its sovereignty. The Qatari is pursuing a very risky political policy by agitating and attacking Kuwait , due to the stand and support of Kuwait to Bahrain. The Jazzier channel is going to backfire on the Qatari very soon. This is another sign of non credibility of the Qatari new government which have no experience what so ever in Politics.