Qatar has bought cable channel Current TV, co-founded by former Vice-President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, to turn it into Al-Jazeera America.

The acquisition permits Qatar to reach 40% of U.S. households immediately.

The transaction is valued at $ 500 million, including 100 for Mr. Gore.

In addition to its channels in Arabic, Al-Jazeera broadcasts in English, Urdu, Turkish, Bosnian and Serbo-Croatian. The consortium should soon launch a channel in French.

Al-Jazeera is a news channel whose programs have all been controlled since 2005 by the Muslim Brotherhood. The English Channel wants to appear secular and liberal, while the channels in Arabic and religious and Islamic.