Axios: Blinken urges Qatar to tone down Al Jazeera’s reports on Gaza

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar on October 13, 2023. [Amiri Diwan of the State of Qatar – Anadolu Agency]

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he recently asked Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to “tone down Al Jazeera‘s rhetoric about the war in Gaza,” US news website Axios reported, citing an anonymous source.

During a meeting with American Jewish community leaders on Monday, Blinken said that less than two weeks ago, he had asked the Qatari prime minister to tone down Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel’s bombardment of Israel, Axios reported citing three people who attended the meeting.

Blinken was in Doha on 13 October and asked the Qatari government to revise its public stance on Hamas.

“It appears that Blinken was referring to the Arabic version of Al Jazeera, not the English one,” it added

Anadolu Agency reached out to the US State Department for confirmation of the report, but received no response. Qatar has also not commented on the report.

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