The Al Jazeera Media Network on Tuesday announced sweeping senior-level appointments, including the naming of former Qatari foreign ministry official Nasser Bin Faisal al-Thani as its new director general.
Al-Thani, who joined the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013 and rose to the rank of ambassador, will take charge of the Qatar-based broadcaster. The announcement made no reference to former acting director general Mostefa Souag, who held the position for 12 years and oversaw the network’s rise in popularity across both the Arab world and the West.
As part of the restructuring, Ahmad Alyafei, managing director of Al Jazeera Arabic since 2018, was appointed to the newly created role of director of Al Jazeera channels, giving him full editorial oversight of all network channels.
Other key appointments include Issa Ali as managing director of Al Jazeera English, Asef Hamidi as managing director of Al Jazeera Arabic, and former BBC journalist Ibrahim Helal as director of news at Al Jazeera English, replacing veteran figure Salah Negm.
In an internal email, Alyafei said the new appointments had won “the confidence of the senior management” and reaffirmed the network’s commitment to its founding mission.
Funded and owned by the government of Qatar, Al Jazeera has consistently maintained its claim of editorial independence despite longstanding scrutiny.
