"Smaller Hughes Convoy," by Al Kamen ("In the Loop") - the Washington Post, 12 Feb 2006
Never let it be said that Bush administration officials don't learn from experience. In September, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes -- who's adopted a somewhat low profile amid the furor over those Danish cartoons -- took 16 reporters on her first trip to the Mideast. We all know how well that trip turned out. So this time, Hughes, heading later this week for Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Germany, has reduced the media contingent a bit. To zero.
Actually, the odd thing is that Hughes was travelling with a press pack to begin with. That's not something that undersecretaries normally do.
Also see:
"US Public Diplomacy Secretary Hughes to Visit Qatar, UAE, Germany" - KUNA (Kuwait News Agency), 11 Feb 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (KUNA) -- US Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes will visit Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Germany next week.
Her trip, which will last less than a week, comes at time of heightened tension throughout the Muslim world over cartoons printed in Danish and European newspapers depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Moreover, despite the US position that the cartoons are "unacceptable" and "inciting," Hughes nonetheless faces growing anti-US sentiment in the Middle East. According to the State Department, Hughes will speak at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar and meet with students, non-governmental organizations, community leaders and senior government officials....
Added 14 Feb 2006:
"US Public Diplomacy Envoy to Meet with Officials from Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya," by George Gedda - AP (Washington), 13 Feb 2006 (as posted to eNewMexican)
The State Department's top public diplomacy official will visit two pan-Arab telecasting giants in the Persian Gulf area this week at a time of growing Arab alienation from the West because of depictions of the Prophet Muhammad that began in Denmark.
The turmoil over the cartoons of Islam's holiest figure is expected to be a major topic during Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes' visits to Qatar and Dubai, one of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates. Qatar is home to Al-Jazeera, and Al-Arabiya is headquartered in Dubai.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice alleged last week that Syria and Iran have used the cartoon issue to provoke mob violence among the Arabs. The United States also has said the right of the media in Europe and elsewhere to express itself freely on sensitive subjects must not be infringed....
During her visit to Qatar, Hughes will meet with officials from Al-Jazeera, the Arabic language television service that has faced frequent U.S. charges of false and inflammatory reporting.
She also plans discussions in Dubai with Al-Arabiya officials.
Both TV stations provide uniquely uncensored news coverage from bureaus throughout the Middle East. Both have far more viewers Alhurra, an Arabic language service begun by the Bush administration partly to counter negative reports in the other two stations.
She leaves for Qatar on Thursday, a day after Alhurra's second anniversary, and plans a stop in Germany on her way home from the Persian Gulf emirates.
Hughes will attend a U.S.-Islamic forum in Qatar and meet with opinion leaders in the country. In addition, she will meet with students and deliver a speech Saturday night in Doha.
Al-Arabiya is seen within the Bush administration as more balanced than Al-Jazeera, although U.S. officials credit even the Qatar-based channel with having become less intemperate than it had been in recent years.
Hughes is expected to discuss with officials from the two networks instances in which she believes they have been unfair in their reporting. The pro-U.S. government in Iraq banned Al-Jazeera from reporting in that country last August....
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