Israel Matzav

Qatar's Prime Minister wins libel suit against columnist who slammed Israel ties

The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, won a libel suit against the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Watan and its columnist Fouad al-Hashem, who criticized al-Thani for developing Qatar's ties with Israel. Al-Watan and al-Hashem were required to pay 9001 Kuwaiti dinars (about $34,000).

Al-Hashem says he respects the ruling but won't stop criticizing the top Qatari official.

The columns by al-Hashem criticized Sheik Hamad for his ties to Israel, including claims he is financing the development of an Israeli diabetes drug.

Qatar is home to Israel's only diplomatic mission in the Gulf, a trade mission. In January 2007, then Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited Qatar and met with its ruler.

Al-Hashem said the female anchor's welcome for Peres on Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite news channel was so effusive that one would have thought he was her long-lost husband stranded on an island before a helicopter owned by Sheik Hamad rescued him.

"It is difficult to assess the extent of damages," said attorney al-Gharib, when the lawsuit was originally filed. "(Sheik Hamad) is a world-known personality and an international investor.

The document describing the lawsuit published in al-Watan said the daily "launched a campaign against the claimant aimed at making his policies look like ... they are based on suspicious political and financial ties with Israel," which is not true. It quoted 10 opinion pieces, the first one published in July 2006.

Al-Hashem, the columnist, at the time maintained that what he wrote was criticism of a public personality. "He is a politician and a statesman and it is everybody's right to criticize his political behavior."

I gather the court was not condoning the ties with Israel but only the criticizing what was written about the Sheikh. And there's no exception for public figures in the Gulf.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:01 PM