Qatar's government has replaced Wadah Khanfar, the director-general of the al-Jazeera satellite TV network, with a member of its own royal family – a sudden and dramatic move at a time of unprecedented turmoil across the Middle East.
Khanfar, credited with revolutionising the Arab media landscape, announced that he was resigning after eight years that consolidated both the channel's reputation and his position as one of the most powerful figures in the region.
The new director-general is said to be Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, an executive at Qatargas and a member of the country's ruling dynasty.
The Palestinian-born journalist said in a resignation letter posted – characteristically – on Twitter that his goal at the outset was "to establish al-Jazeera as a global media leader" and that "this target has been met".
Al-Jazeera, based in the Qatari capital Doha and owned by the state's emir, broke the mould of Arabic media organisations that were bankrolled by and subservient to governments or cowed by censors when it was set up in 1996.
Often technically brilliant and highly partisan, it has outperformed itself in this year of the Arab uprisings with the slogan – cleverly echoing the battle cry of revolutionary struggles – that "the coverage continues". » | Ian Black, Middle East Editor | Tuesday, September 20, 2011
