Three weeks after stopping the broadcast of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Alarab satellite channel, Bahrain has ordered the station to “dismantle its operations in Manama," according to a Bahraini official .
The news emerged just a day after the station’s general manager, Jamal Khashoggi, told ArabianBusiness.com that Alarab would resume broadcasting "with the same reporting standards.”
The station began broadcasting February 1, only to have their feed cut in less than 24 hours, a move seen as a reaction to an interview of a prominent Bahrain opposition figure.
Alarab was to be headquartered in Manama to evade a Saudi ban on private satellite channels.
Only two days before the launch of the station, the Bahraini information minister, Isa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hamadi, lauded the company, which received financial incentives from the state, leaving the about-face from the Bahrain government quite puzzling.
"The launch of the Bahrain-based channel builds on landmark achievements in the prosperous era of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa", he said as he visited the channel headquarters at the Bahrain World Trade Centre. He described the milestone as one of the fruits yielded by HM the King's pioneering reform project which promoted Bahrain's standing in all fields.
With Manama seemingly permanently out, it’s unclear where Alarab will turn for a new home, but considering it is backed by Saudi Arabia's richest man, house hunting shouldn't take too long.