In a speech on the new news channel, the French ambassador to Qatar said that France 24 is the new French news channel and will broadcast in English and French soon to be followed by Arabic and Spanish in 2007.
He also added that the channel does not conflict with the existing Arabic news channels such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabia nor does it compete with them. He also said that the channel was based on an initiative by French President Jacques Chirac and that the 24-hours news channel has its own set of targets and perspectives with 170 journalists from 27 countries and a budget of 80 million Euros.
