Excerpt:
In an apparent bid to distance itself from the Muslim Brotherhood and appease its powerful neighbors, Qatar on Monday announced plans for a new television station to serve as a counterweight to its homegrown powerhouse Al Jazeera.
Funded by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (pictured), the ambitious, globally minded young Emir of Qatar, the new station will be called Al Araby and will be broadcast in Arabic from a base in London. Palestinian Azmi Bashara, who served as an Israeli parliament member before fleeing his home country in 2007 under accusations of treason and aiding an enemy state during warfare, has been tapped as director.
The plan had been for Al Araby to bow this past January but the launch date has been delayed more than once, according to a report in the National.