BBC to face Al-Jazeera

2004-06-24 07:49

London - British state broadcaster the BBC plans to launch an Arabic-language television channel broadcasting to the Middle East in direct competition to Al-Jazeera, a report said on Thursday.

The plan has been devised by Britain's foreign office, which would also help finance the venture, the Financial Times said.

Britain is keen to see the BBC offer an alternative to Doha-based Al-Jazeera and other Arabic stations which have proved popular in the region with an editorial stance that often irritates London and Washington, the paper said.

The new station would be modelled on existing satellite news and features channel BBC World, and while broadcast from London would have staff around the Middle East.

Running costs would be around £28m (about R320m) per year, the report said.

The British government already supports the BBC's World Service radio network, and a request for additional funding for the Arabic station has been included in a spending request submitted by the foreign office to the treasury, it added.

"This particular proposal is still under discussion and we have asked the World Service to look at various aspects of it before we could come to a final conclusion," a foreign office spokesperson was quoted as telling the paper.

- AFP