Doha, May 27: The Director General of the controversial Arab satellite television al-Jazeera has been sacked, Qatari sources said today amid allegations he worked with Saddam Hussein's intelligence services. Mohammed Jassem al-Ali had held the top job at the Doha-based station since it launched the Arabic-language channel in 1996. Al-Jazeera and Ali have been accused by western media of collaborating with the former regime in Baghdad, which the ex-director general visited before the US-led war, meeting Saddam during an hour-long interview.
Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the American-backed Iraqi National Congress, has accused several al-Jazeera journalists of working for Iraqi agencies based on documents found in state archives in Baghdad.

Ali, who has denied the charges, could not be contacted.

A replacement was expected to be announced shortly, the Qatari sources told a news agency.

Al-Jazeera enjoyed a special status in pre-war Iraq, being allowed to work independently of the information ministry which strictly controlled foreign media.
Washington and London blasted al-Jazeera after the network carried footage from Iraqi television of dead coalition soldiers and prisoners of war, as well as repeated images of Iraqi civilians badly wounded in air strikes. Bureau Report