Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera (meaning "The Island", referring to the Arabian Peninsula) is a television network headquartered in Doha, Qatar, thaks to the will of the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani that wanted to create a idependent arabic channel to transform his country in the cultural centre of the Middle East area and to assume a greater importance in the political landscape. The station gained worldwide attention following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when it broadcast video statements by Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders. Al Jazeera introduced a level of freedom of speech on TV that was previously unheard of in many of these countries. Al Jazeera presented controversial views regarding the governments of many Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

On November 15, 2006 under the name Al Jazeera English was launched the english version of this channel. The broadcast centers are in Doha (next to the original Al Jazeera headquarters and broadcast center), London, Kuala Lumpur and Washington D.C.
Website www.aljazeera.net (Arabic)english.aljazeera.net (English)