Ehab Al Shihabi is the Executive Director of international operations for Al Jazeera Media Network. He is also the interim Chief Executive Officer of Al Jazeera America. Shihabi was hired by Al Jazeera Media Network in 2006 to be the Deputy Managing director at Al Jazeera English. In 2011 he was named the Executive director of international operations Al Jazeera Media Network. Before Al Jazeera he was a media consultant at a variety of firms. He was one of the principal people involved in the process of buying Current TV and setting up Al Jazeera America. Shihabi stated in regards to the launch of Al Jazeera America, "It?s going to be run by American talent and staff for the American audience." Shihabi has been largely involved in the business aspects of Al Jazeera America such as the budget for the channel and helping in securing carriage agreements with television carriers and making the channel available on different platforms such as carrier TV Everywhere platforms.