Al-Jazeera gets bureau but won't screen here - Tue 03 Oct 2006 09:00:AM
CONTROVERSIAL Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera will not be broadcast in Australia, despite the imminent launch of an Asia-Pacific bureau and an English-language channel.
Criticised in autocratic Middle East states for its perceived liberal viewpoint, and lashed by the US Government as the "mouthpiece" of terrorist Osama bin Laden, the Qatar-based television network has set up a bureau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to complement new posts in Washington and London.
But Australia's monopoly pay TV provider, Foxtel, will not be making the channel available at its November 1 launch, saying its satellite system is running at capacity.
The station is available in Arabic on niche pay TV provider World Media International, but that company is unlikely to take on the English channel.
Managing director Tony Ishak said several delays ahead of the launch had made broadcasters jittery about the station's birth. "Better to wait a bit before they decide to take it up," he said.
The new station — al-Jazeera International — operates separately from its parent and is not a "translation" of the Arabic service.
Criticised in autocratic Middle East states for its perceived liberal viewpoint, and lashed by the US Government as the "mouthpiece" of terrorist Osama bin Laden, the Qatar-based television network has set up a bureau in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to complement new posts in Washington and London.
But Australia's monopoly pay TV provider, Foxtel, will not be making the channel available at its November 1 launch, saying its satellite system is running at capacity.
The station is available in Arabic on niche pay TV provider World Media International, but that company is unlikely to take on the English channel.
Managing director Tony Ishak said several delays ahead of the launch had made broadcasters jittery about the station's birth. "Better to wait a bit before they decide to take it up," he said.
The new station — al-Jazeera International — operates separately from its parent and is not a "translation" of the Arabic service.
