Original caption: Al-Jazeera staff work at the satellite channel's headquarters in the Qatari capital Doha 10 October 2001. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said al-Jazeera is giving too much air time to Islamic extremists and others with radical views in its coverage of the US-led war on terrorism. Al-Jazeera is the only channel with corresondents reporting live from the besieged Afghan capital and the city of Kandahar, another top target of the US strikes. AFP PHOTO /Joseph BARRAK
[rohrpost] Fwd: noch ein Interview mit Bin Laden
New York Times
>December 12, 2001
> >Interview With Bin Laden Makes The Rounds
> >By James Risen and Patrick E. Tyler
> >WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 — Al Jazeera, the Persian Gulf television network, >obtained an exclusive interview with Osama bin Laden in October, the >only television interview the terrorist leader has given since the war >in Afghanistan began. But the network never broadcast the interview, >partly because it revealed how much Mr. bin Laden had intimidated the >network's correspondent, according to American and Middle Eastern >government officials.
> >Later, however, Britain and the United States secretly obtained copies >of the interview, and on Nov. 14, British Prime Minister Tony Blair used >it to buttress the West's public case that Mr. bin Laden was responsible >for the Sept. 11 attacks.
> >At the time, Mr. Blair did not identify the source of the tape, and said >only that it was "an inflammatory interview, which has been circulating, >in the form of a video, among supporters in the Al Qaeda network." Mr. >Blair referred to the tape when he issued his second public statement >detailing evidence collected by the United States and Britain to prove >that Mr. bin Laden planned the Sept. 11 attacks.
> >But American and Middle Eastern government officials now say that the >tape was from the interview with Al Jazeera, believed to have been >conducted on Oct. 20 somewhere in Afghanistan by a correspondent then >working out of Kabul.
> >The tape of the interview was produced earlier than the one discussed in >recent days by the Bush administration in which Mr. bin Laden, speaking >during a dinner, reportedly gloats about the attacks. That was a home >movie of sorts; this is a professional television interview.
> >Mr. Blair, quoting from Al Jazeera's interview, said that Mr. bin Laden >declared that "the battle has been moved inside America, and we shall >continue until we win this battle, or die in the cause and meet our >maker." He also quotes Mr. bin Laden as saying that "the bad terror is >what America and Israel are practicing against our people, and what we >are practicing is the good terror that will stop them doing what they >are doing."
> >The decision not to broadcast the tape is believed to have been made >after Al Jazeera news executives reviewed it at their headquarters in >Qatar. The tape shows Mr. bin Laden's refusal to answer the reporter's >questions; instead he dictates both the questions and the answers. The >correspondent for Al Jazeera, who has not been identified, appeared >fearful and intimidated. "He looked like a wimp," said one government >official.
> >Al Jazeera officials in Doha, Qatar's capital, refused to respond fully >to questions about the tape. Several of them denied knowing about an >interview with Mr. bin Laden.
> >Abrahim Helal, a news executive with the network, said in an interview >that he did not know of any interview turned over to the British and >American governments.
> >Since Sept. 11, Mr. bin Laden is known to have granted only one other >interview besides the one that Al Jazeera apparently decided not to >broadcast. That was with a Pakistani newspaper reporter who was brought >into Afghanistan to meet him. In addition, Mr. bin Laden released a >videotaped statement on the day the United States-led military campaign >began, Oct. 7.
> >The United States and Britain have still not released the videotape from >the Al Jazeera interview, and officials said there are no plans to do >so.
> >After Al Jazeera decided not to broadcast the tape, it began circulating >among Arab government officials and others in the Middle East, and >eventually both the United States and Britain separately obtained >copies, officials said. "It seemed like people everywhere in the Middle >East had seen the tape, including the King of Jordan," one official >said.
> >Al Jazeera officials did not hand over the tape directly to the British >government for use in Prime Minister Blair's statement, and the British >and the Americans appear to have obtained it from officials in Arab >governments who were increasingly concerned by Al Jazeera's growing >influence in the region.
> >Prime Minister Blair decided not to reveal the tape's origin in part >because the British government wanted to keep the focus on what Mr. bin >Laden said in the tape, rather than on the work of Al Jazeera. American >officials have also refused to discuss the circumstances surrounding the >videotaped interview publicly to avoid harming the method in which it >was obtained. When asked about the videotape, one American official said >only that Al Jazeera has tried to be "responsible" in what does and >doesn't broadcast.
> >Al Jazeera's decision not to broadcast the interview with Mr. bin Laden >followed a private meeting in October between Vice President Dick Cheney >and the Emir of Qatar, Shaykh Hamad Bin-Khalifah Al Thani, about Al >Jazeera's inflammatory, anti-American broadcasts. Qatar's ruling family >has financed the network.
> >American officials stress that Mr. Cheney's complaints about Al Jazeera >were general in nature, but Al- Jazeera's decision not to air the tape >followed the meeting in Washington.