Al Jazeera America, the coming international news channel financed by the emir of Qatar, on Monday named an ABC News senior vice president, Kate O’Brian, to be its president.

Ms. O’Brian, a 30-year veteran of ABC, has overseen all news gathering for the network news division since 2007. A spokesman for Al Jazeera said Ms. O’Brian would have full responsibility for the new channel’s strategy and editorial operations.

Ms. O’Brian will report to Ehab Al Shihabi, Al Jazeera’s executive director for international operations, who has been overseeing the creation of the American channel in the absence of a president or senior leadership team. On Monday, he was named the interim chief executive, making him responsible for everything but the editorial decisions.