Bahrain Mirror: Saudi Sabq Online Newspaper reported that the Al Arab news channel has shut down permanently, after a series of failures the channels faced after its broadcast was shut in Bahrain, 1 day after its launch in February 2015.

The Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal-owned news channel informed its employees that they were laid off, Sabq online newspaper added.

On another side, the channel's general director, Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, changed his title on his "Twitter" profile, replacing it by "journalist" only.

Bahraini authorities had shut down the channel permanently after only a single day of broadcasting. Al Arab's troubles seem to be caused by an interview with the Bahraini opposition activist Khalil al-Marzooq in which he discussed the Bahraini government's decision to revoke - without prior notice or legal process - the citizenship of 72 people.

The Bahraini authorities commented on the shutdown, accused the channel of failing "to match the standards of regional and international practice agreements, to take account of efforts aimed at stemming the tide of extremism and terrorism throughout the region and the wider world."

Al Arab Channel faced 6 troubling years of announcing its launch and postponing it, until it launched its broadcast in Bahraini capital Manama in February 2015, lasting only a couple of hours.

After its Manama failure, the Al Arab channel sought other options, among them London, Istanbul, and Cyprus. Eventually it was announced that the channel would broadcast from Qatar, after extensive negotiations between two sides.

Arabic Version