Qatari media has reported on the opening session of the Ninth Al Jazeera Forum held earlier this month. According to the Gulf Times report:
May 4, 2015 The importance of protection for journalists who cover conflicts, was emphasised by Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, chairman of the Board of Al Jazeera Network. He was speaking at the opening session of the ninth Al Jazeera Forum that started yesterday.
This year’s forum focuses on tackling conflict and change in the Arab region.
A large number of experts and speakers are participating in the forum from all over the Arab world and beyond.
The speakers and discussions at the forum highlighted the prevailing situation in the Arab countries and the changes needed.
Sheikh Hamad said, ‘Many of our staff have been targeted badly and some have been arrested. We have paid very heavy price in many cases.’
Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, minister’s assistant for international co-operation affairs, talked about Qatar’s position in many ongoing conflicts in the Arab region.
He said that Qatar denounces all forms of terrorism, which ‘are an outcome of the denial of people’s rights’.
Read the rest here.
According to the Forum program, the following individuals of interest were scheduled to participate:
- Abdelilah Benkirane (Morocco, Justice and Development Party)
- Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (United Kingdom, former minister close to Islamists)
- Abdel Moneim Abu Al-Fotouh (Egypt, Youssef Qaradawi’s candidate for the Egyptian Presidency against Mohamed Morsi)
- Tawakkul Karman (Yemen, Muslim Brotherhood)
- Abdelwahab El-Affendi (Sudan, Westminster University, close to Global Muslim Brotherhood)
- Maha Azzam (Egypt, Egyptian Revolutionary Council)
Another interesting speaker was Tareq Al-Zumour, a former member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who spent many years in prison for his role the assassination of President Anwar Sadat and who was freed shortly after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Al-Zomour is currently a member of e Gama‘a Al-Islamiyya’s political party. Gama‘a Al-Islamiyya is still classified by the US and the EU as a terrorist organization.
The GMBDW reported in Match 2011 on the Sixth Al Jazeera Forum.