From left: Nigel Parsons, Salam Ahamed, Mark Lynch and Hafiz Al Mirazi, at the panel discussion.

DOHA: Aljazeera International (AJI), the English news channel of the Doha-based Al Jazeera Network, is expected to go on air by May, Nigel Parsons, Managing Director, told the media on Thursday. The channel will offer round-the-clock, free to air telecasts to viewers around the globe through its four broadcast centers, he added.

AJI, he said, was already putting in place the infrastructure such as its studios in Doha, broadcast centers such as Washington DC, London and Kuala Lumpur, and news bureaus in various capitals across the globe to provide viewers with excellent news coverage.

Doha will carry signals 12 hours a day while the remaining 12 hours will be distributed among the three other broadcast centres, said Parsons, responding to questions at a pnael discussion held later in the evening.

The channel, he noted earlier in the day, would be the first such offering international news to based in the Middle East region- which in itself is a news hotspot. AJI will share the resources of its Arabic counterpart, the Al Jazeera Channel for news coverage, he added. AJI has already established a news bureau in New Delhi, India, and was offered to establish one in Harare, Zimbabwe, on which the network has yet to decide.

Parsons disclosed, AJI was currently working with the Al Jazeera Channel to establish which phrases it can use in its coverage to ensure that sensitivities of Arab and other viewers are not hurt. For example, Palestinian suicide bombers are often referred to by the Arabic media and the Al Jazeera Channel as 'Jihadis' or religious fighters. " The word suicide bomber, in Arabic, has some moral connotations and we have to look at what words we can use in such cases," he added.

The new channel will also cover local news, provided they have international significance, Nigel said. The channel's coverage of news events around the world, he said, would be done by locals to ensure that news is not presented through a foreign viewpoint to viewers.

Omar Bec, Managing Editor, AJI, said, the Al Jazeera Channel had made a difference to the way news is covered since international networks such as CNN often quote the channel. "This shows that despite criticism from various quarters, Al Jazeera Channel did something right and we will pick from there," he added.

Responding to questions at a panel discussion, Parsons said that while the upcoming English channel will be supported by Qatar, it would operate without any interference in its editorial policy.

This would make the channel different from other world networks since it would have no political agenda as some in the US and UK have. "Qatar has no political agenda (to further)," said Parsons, implying that this very neutrality would give the channel an edge over rivals in presenting news and events around the world with objectivity.

Earlier, Wadah Khanfar, managing director of Al Jazeera, addressed the gathering (2nd Al Jazeera Forum) at its conclusion and said diversity was going to be the channel's motto.

In remarks to The Peninsula later he said in response to a question on the Danish newspaper controversy: "It is very sad to use media to divide cultures and civilsations".