Malaysian media is reporting that Mohamed Fahmy, the Canadian Al-Jazeera journalist currently on trial in Egypt on terror-related charges, has alleged that Al-Jazeera “were sponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood.” According to The Star report:
CAIRO—Mohamed Fahmy, the Canadian journalist on trial in Egypt on terror-related charges, has filed a lawsuit in Canadian court against his employer Al Jazeera for $100 million, accusing the Qatari news network of negligence and breach of contract.
In a case that sparked worldwide condemnation of Egypt’s government, Fahmy was jailed for more than 400 days with his two Al Jazeera English colleagues, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and Australian correspondent Peter Greste.
Egyptian prosecutors accused the three of spreading false news harmful to national security and of belonging to or aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities designated a terrorist group in December 2013, six months after Muslim Brotherhood-aligned president Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown.
In January, an appeals court threw out their convictions — they had been sentenced to between seven and 10 years — and ordered retrials, which are still ongoing.
At a press conference Monday in the Cairo Four Seasons hotel, Fahmy, who has been out on bail since February, accused his employer of taking actions that helped land him in jail.
Fahmy said Al Jazeera acted as ‘an arm of Qatar’s foreign policy’ and ‘was not only biased towards the Muslim Brotherhood — they were sponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood.’
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The GMBDW had been reporting since June 2007 on the Muslim Brotherhood ties of former Al Jazeera General Manager Waddah Khanfar who resigned his position in 2011. In 2003, Khanfar became head of the Al Jazeera Baghdad bureau and shortly thereafter station General Manager. A report in Nation Magazine attributed the support by the Al Jazeera television station for Islamic movements to Khanfar’s influence. According to the Nation report, Al Jazeera coverage changed dramatically to a far more “populist/Islamist approach.” when Khanfar took over in March 2003.
For a profile on Waddah Khanfar, go here.