Al Jazeera director-general resigns to take up government post

The director-general of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite news network has resigned to take up a post in the newly reshuffled government, the station said on Wednesday.

Ahmed bin Jassim al-Thani said in a statement posted on the station's website that he was leaving the network “to serve my country”, Reuters reported.

The station did not indicate who his replacement would be.

Al-Thani took over after long-serving director general, Wadah Khanfar, stepped down as the network's top executive in September 2011.

The news of al-Thani's departure follows this week’s cabinet reshuffle in Qatar, which followed the voluntary abdication of the country’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Infographic: Qatar's New key players (Design by Farwa Rizwan / Al Arabiya English)

Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa bin Nasser al-Thani replaced Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani as prime minister, Qatar announced on Wednesday, while Hamad Atieh was appointed as the new defense minister with Khaled Atieh as the foreign minister.

Al Jazeera's outgoing director-general did not immediately indicate which government post he is taking.

Qatar’s new Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani made his first address to the nation on Wednesday, when he said his country is committed in cooperating with Arab states within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).