Al Jazeera Media Network has already condemned the demand by Saudi Arabia and the three other Arab countries, calling it "nothing short than a siege against the journalistic profession".

The network said in a statement on Friday that the move aimed "to silence the freedom of expression in the region and to suppress people's right to information and the right to be heard".

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Speaking on Accra-based Class FM, Elizabeth Ohene, a former BBC journalist said that her wish is that Al Jazeera will not be closed but will be allowed to operate because it offers “a different viewpoint or additional viewpoint to other international media on offer, and it will be a shame to lose that”.

She said: “Al Jazeera has been a thorn in the flesh of many of the Arab nations right from the day it was set up because you have to recognise that Al Jazeera was offering space for the kind of voices that you didn’t normally hear on radio or TV or newspaper”.

“Suddenly people who are opposed to the government of Saudi Arabia or UAE or whatever were being interviewed on Al Jazeera and it is not surprising that the government didn’t like it because they were not used to that”.

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Over two decades, the Doha-based channel is believed to have transformed the media environment in the Gulf.

Others argue that at some point the channel was annoying powers in a region with very few democracies and no tradition of independent media.