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Al-Arabiya
is an Arabic-language satellite news channel based in Dubai. It
was launched in February 2003 by
a group of Arab investors including the pan-Arab satellite TV pioneer
MBC and Lebanon's Hariri Group. MBC is owned by Sheikh Walid al-Ibrahim,
a brother-in-law of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd. Al-Arabiya was created
to compete with Al Jazeera in providing an alternative to foreign
news broadcasts.
Al-Arabiya has been regularly criticized by the U.S. government
for their news coverage of Iraq, which the U.S. alleges incites
violence against its coalition in Iraq. After broadcasting footage
of masked men inciting attacks against Iraqi Governing Council members
as well as U.S. interests in Iraq; Al-Arabiya was banned several
times from attending official Iraqi Governing Council meetings.
Their Baghdad office was shut down and their equipment seized following
the airing of an audio tape in November 2003 that claimed to be
the voice of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein calling on the
Iraqi people to resist the U.S.-led forces.
Though its coverage is sometimes viewed as provocative, founder
Walid al Ibrahim reportedly views the work of the station as a step
toward advancing the Arab World and freeing it from dictatorship
and repression. The networks founders promised that their coverage
would be objective and accurate.
Al Arabiya is one of the most watched satellite news networks in
the Arab world. The BBC reported, "Across the Arab world, Al-Arabiya
probably has about 20 million viewers, as compared to Al-Jazeera's
35 million."
PO Box 72627
Dubai Media City
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Telephone: +971 (0)4 390 1000
Fax: +971 (0)4 391 8176
Email [email protected]
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