"Qatari leaders, who fund Jazeera, have visited Saudi Arabia several times this year for talks trumpeted by Saudi media. Lebanese political scientist As'ad Abu Khalil commented about "the demise of Al Jazeera" on his popular blog. "This explains why I am only asked to speak about the U.S. on Jazeera: no more about Arab regimes," he wrote (angryarab.blogspot.com). The Saudi Information Ministry confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that Jazeera's Arabic and English channels will send teams to cover the haj in Mecca, when over two million pilgrims from around the world converge on the birthplace of Islam."