Saudi Arabia orders deleting Al Jazeera-affiliated channels

CAIRO – 9 June 2017: The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) issued a directive to all tourist facilities in the Kingdom to delete all violating satellite channels, including the Qatari-sponsored Al Jazeera Network, reported MENA Friday.

In its statement, the governmental commission stressed that all channels affiliated with Al Jazeera should be canceled from all tourist accommodation facilities. It warned that violators will face punishment, including a fine of 100,000 Saudi Riyal ($26,663) or revoking licenses, according to Sky News.

On Monday, the Saudi government revoked the Al Jazeera broadcast license to operate in the Kingdom and ordered its office to close. The Saudi Ministry of Media accused Al Jazeera of promoting the plans of terrorist groups, inciting separatism and threatening the Kingdom’s sovereignty.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced in a joint statement early on Friday that they have included 59 individuals and 12 organizations with ties to Qatar on their terrorism watch list.

This comes after a political escalation by a number of Arab countries severing diplomatic ties with Doha.