It’s an important strategic decision, says Alwaleed

MANAMA — Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Chairman of Rotana Group and owner of Alarab news channel, late Tuesday signed agreements to move his news and entertainment company from Cairo to Bahrain.

The move comes as Prince Alwaleed plans to launch 24-hour news channel Alarab in the first half of 2013 to compete with Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and the newly launched Sky News Arabia satellite news channels.

Prince Alwaleed said shifting Rotana to Manama from Cairo and selecting the Gulf state’s capital as the headquarters of his Alarab news channel is an “important strategic decision with many important consequences.”

The move comes after thorough studies of several Arab capitals and cities, he was quoted as saying by Bahrain News Agency.

Bahrain is enjoying considerable freedom of expression and wide-open dialogue despite attempts by a minority to prove the opposite, Prince Alwaleed was further quoted as saying by BNA in an apparent reference to anti-government protests.

Alarab news channel will be added to the basket of Rotana’s 12 channels, which include LBC and FOX group. News Corp owns 20 percent of Rotana media group.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Al-Khalifa hosted a dinner in honor of Prince Alwaleed at the Bustan Palace. Prince Alwaleed was accompanied by Dr. Walid Arab Hashem, Vice Chairman of Rotana; Fahad Alsukait, CEO of Rotana Group; Jamal Khashoggi, General Manager of Alarab news channel; Yahia Al-Masri, COO, Alarab Channel, and other senior officials. — Agencies