Reuters Analysis: Egypt's Al Jazeera bans shows channel's key role

[Ghost Dog]

... The channel led coverage of a Tunisian uprising that toppled Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali earlier this month, even though it was already banned from the North African country.

Then, sensing that Tunisia's example would set off copycat movements elsewhere, the channel charted mobilisation in Egypt that led to huge protests in the past week demanding the end of President Hosni Mubarak's rule.

"Al Jazeera saw the gravity of the situation (in Tunisia and Egypt)," said Shadi Hamid of Doha's Brookings Institute. "They saw it was going to be big before other people did and that it would stand as one of the historic moments in Arab history."

Arab governments have often closed the offices of the channel, which helped put tiny Gulf state Qatar on the map and boosted its status as a leader of regional diplomacy.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/30/us-egypt-aljazeera-a-idUSTRE70T2JL20110130

[swilton]

1. A move of desperation