In September 2011, Khanfar announced to his staff and publicly on the micro-blogging platform Twitter that he would be resigning. In an emotional farewell to Al Jazeera staff he cites that the decision had been in his mind for sometime and that the target of establishing Al Jazeera as a global media leader has been met. This is also the theme of an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera where he addresses and refutes suggestions that Wikileaks and pressure from USA may have influenced his resignation.[25] He is succeeded by Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.