Bahrain Mirror: Director of Al-Arab channel, Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, said that he "chose to go into exile in the United States as a result of the tense atmosphere in the Gulf region and his desire to return to writing."

He denied "rumors promoted by some about becoming an opponent of the Saudi regime."

Saudi Arabia banned Khashoggi from writing for 9 months after comments that were said to "harm Saudi relations with US President Donald Trump."

During his first media appearance on Monte Carlo's Gulf Hour program, Khashoggi spoke for the first time about the reasons that led to the failure of Al-Arab channel, pointing out that the selection of the headquarters of the channel was wrong from the beginning, but the funders wanted to find a place for it in the Gulf region.

Khashoggi noted that the reason for the suspension of the channel on its first day oscillates between two hypotheses: the internal Bahraini dispute and the communications from a neighboring country.

Bahrain had shut down the channel on February 2, 2015, one day after it was broadcast. Talks about transferring the channel's studios to countries including Turkey and Qatar have been discussed, but they have not succeeded.

Arabic Version