Dubai: The director-general of Doha-based al-Jazeera satellite television company has been sacked, allegedly for his links with Saddam Hussain's intelligence services.

The documents procured by a British daily in Baghdad reportedly exposed the connection. These appeared to carry the letterhead of the intelligence services and "contacts" between their agents and three members of al-Jazeera staff, including the chief, Mohammed Jassem al-Ali, according to 'The Independent'.

Another document, headed "Presidency of the Republic, Mukhabarat Service", also purportedly brought out contacts between the Iraqis and al-Ali.

The station however denied that his departure had anything to do with the charge that the Iraqi Mukhabarat had infiltrated the organisation. According to a senior company official, al-Ali (who had been seconded from Qatar Television to set up and run al-Zazeera) would remain on the board of directors but hand over the day-to-day work to someone else.

Ali's colleagues are however convinced that the move followed the intense political pressure that the Qatar-based station had faced since the Gulf war, according to the newspaper.

The high-profile network, known as the "CNN of the Arab world", has been the chosen means of communication by Osama bin Laden.

During the war, the channel received wide-ranging access to officials in Baghdad and its coverage was criticised by the American and British governments.

The channel also came in for criticism from American and British officials for broadcasting footage of allied soldiers killed and imprisoned during the war. But it was also criticised by the Iraqi authorities for what they called its pro-American coverage.

ANI