[2] IGA also convenes conferences, conducts independent research[citation needed] and investigations, and works with the media and policymakers to foster a deeper understanding of Arab states of the Persian Gulf by providing them with up-to-date and exclusive information and connecting them with reliable analysts.
As a journalist, Al-Ahmed exposed major news stories such as The Pentagon's botched translation of the 9-11 Bin Laden tape in December 2001.
His maternal grandfather, Salman Abdul Hadi al-Habib, was the Sheikh of Safwa in the early to mid twentieth century until his death.
He has written for, and has been quoted in, The Washington Post, Associated Press, The Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Boston Globe, amongst others.
In May 2002, after Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan, al-Ahmed found a video of his beheading on an Arabic language website used to recruit jihadi-s to fight the United States.
The footage of Pearl’s murder was interspersed with news clips, Arabic subtitles and calls to holy war directed at young people in Saudi Arabia, at least some of whom found the video appealing.
Anchor Dan Rather defended CBS’s decision by saying the tape was aired after great deliberation and was carefully edited to omit the most brutal moments.
"We believe," said Rather, "it is important for Americans to see it and understand the full impact and danger of the propaganda war being waged against the United States and its allies, and also its effect on the young people of the Arab world.