Blair to appear on new English al-Jazeera channel

Prime Minister Tony Blair will be one of the first interviewees on the English-language version of Arab news channel al-Jazeera, it was reported today.

He will be interviewed by veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost on his show, Frost Over The World on Friday.

Sir David, 67, told The Guardian that Mr Blair would be the first guest on his new weekly show.

But he admitted he had qualms about joining the platform because of claims that it has acted as a propaganda platform for extremists.

"So I deliberately checked out, with Whitehall and with Washington, that there were no links with al Qaeda, for instance, that sort of thing," he said.

"And it was not really a surprise that there were no such links, because Qatar, the proprietor of al-Jazeera, is also our most important ally in the Middle East."

Those behind the delayed al-Jazeera English channel claim it will reach up to 80 million homes worldwide via satellite, cable and the internet.

It has signed up a number of big names as well as Sir David, including former BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar and ex-BBC One O'Clock News anchor Darren Jordan.

The channel has, apparently, been snubbed by major satellite and cable channels in the US, however.

The news network, based in Doha, has angered the US government over its broadcasts of al Qaeda statements and coverage of the Iraq war.

Wadah Khanfar, director-general of the al-Jazeera network, said it would continue to expand following the launch.

Lindsey Oliver, commercial director of al-Jazeera English, said distributors had agreed to carry the service without having seen it on air.

The channel will begin broadcasting at noon.