The deal also illustrates the way the Arab media, despite the new freedoms introduced by Al-Jazeera itself a decade ago, are still often treated as political tools by the region’s autocratic rulers.

“The gulf nations now feel they are all in the same boat, because of the threat of Iran, and the chaos of Iraq and America’s weakness,” said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai.

Those assurances, Alani added, were given at a September meeting in Riyadh between King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and top officials in the Qatari Government, aimed at resolving a long-simmering feud between the nations. The Qataris brought along an unusual guest: the chairman of Al-Jazeera’s board, Sheik Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani.

Several employees confirmed that the chairman of the board had attended the meeting.

“Orders were given not to tackle any Saudi issue without referring to the higher management,” one Jazeera newsroom employee wrote in an e-mail message.