CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH 195 Extra A
December 6, 2005

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------------xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx----------------

Protest to Libya after satellites jammed
Libya Engages in Jamming War
Libya Jams Western Broadasts

.............................................

Protest to Libya after satellites jammed
David Hencke and Owen Gibson, The Guardian
December 3, 2005

Article originally posted at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/libya/stor...656914,00.html

British and US diplomats have protested to the Libyan government after two
international
satellites were illegally jammed, knocking off air dozens of TV and radio
stations
serving Britain and Europe and disrupting American diplomatic, military and
FBI communications.
Among stations hit were digital broadcasts by Five, BBC World, CNN
International, US
sports channels, cable TV networks and 23 radio stations. According to an
email sent by one
of the satellite owners, Loral Skynet, the US state department said it
"would take it into
their own hands" unless the interference stopped.

Last night the Foreign Office confirmed it had raised the issue in talks
between the
British embassy in Tripoli and the Libyan government.

Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, said it was considering taking a complaint to
the
International Telecoms Union.

The jamming started on September 19 after the launch in London of a small
British and
Arab-owned commercial radio station broadcasting on human rights and freedom
of speech
issues to Libya.

Ten minutes after the station - initially known as Sout Libya - went on air
a transponder
carrying the station was jammed for 50 minutes along with other stations.
The jamming
stopped when Sout Libya stopped broadcasting.

The station relaunched as Sowt Alamel, this time through a new satellite
called Telstar
12. As a precaution, the broadcasts were sent to the US first, and then
beamed up to
Telstar, making it impossible for anybody to jam it, except from America.

Yet the moment it went on air, the jamming started again, knocking out the
other stations
without affecting Sowt Alamel.

An anonymous email sent to a company which helped the station said: "We can
tell you we
know the reason for these problems, it is the presence of the so called
'ALAMAL' radio
Audio channel on your satellite. This channel broadcasts terrorist
propaganda, intended to
spread terrorist ideas amongst the listeners mindes [sic]."

The station has now voluntarily agreed to suspend its service. Its director,
Jalal
Elgiathi, said: "Our radio station had commercial advertising and altogether
we have lost
£250,000."

Last night 10 parliamentary questions were tabled by Andrew Mackinlay,
Labour MP for
Thurrock and a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee. "We need a
full explanation
of what has happened and whether Britain has insisted as part of its trade
talks with the
Libyans that it respected international law."

Industry sources confirmed that Five had lost its signal from the satellite,
but said
that the situation had been "quite quickly resolved". Other broadcasters
were unaware their
channels were affected. A BBC World spokeswoman said: "We're consulting with
our cable
and satellite partners in the region to clarify the situation."

.............................................

Libya Engages in Jamming War
December 4, 2005

Article originally posted at:
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/20...r/12_05_4.html

LONDON [MENL] -- Libya has waged a jamming war against the West in a
successful effort to
stop an opposition radio station.

So far, British and U.S. officials said, Libya has succeeded in disrupting
U.S. military
communications in the Mediterranean Sea. The jamming also blocked dozens of
television
and radio stations in Europe.

Officials said the confrontation began in September when a British-based
opposition radio
station began to broadcast to Libya. The station, Voice of Libya, was meant
to be a
commercial enterprise that reported human rights violations by the regime of
Col. Moammar
Khaddafy.

Within minutes of its launch, the radio station as well as other broadcast
networks were
jammed. Officials said the jamming ended when the Voice of Libya went off
the air.
(Middle East Newsline Dec 04)

.............................................

Libya Jams Western Broadasts
December 5, 2005

Article originally posted at:
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtri...972222224.html

LONDON - Libya has waged a jamming war against the West in a successful
effort to stop an
opposition radio station.

So far, British and U.S. officials said, Libya has succeeded in disrupting
U.S. military
communications in the Mediterranean Sea.

The jamming also blocked dozens of television and radio stations in Europe,
Middle East
Newsline reported.

"We need a full explanation of what has happened and whether Britain has
insisted as part
of its trade talks with the Libyans that it respected international law,"
British
parliamentarian Andrew Mackinlay, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
told the House of
Commons on Dec. 2.

Officials said the confrontation began in September when a British-based
opposition radio
station began to broadcast to Libya. The station, Voice of Libya, was meant
to be a
commercial enterprise that reported human rights violations by the regime of
Col. Moammar
Khaddafy.

Within minutes of its launch, the radio station as well as other broadcast
networks were
jammed. Officials said the jamming ended when the Voice of Libya went off
the air.

Weeks later, the Libyan opposition reappeared with Sawt Al Amal, or the
Voice of Hope.
The station was broadcast through the Telstar-12 satellite, operated in the
United States.

Officials said Libya again sought to jam the opposition station. The effort
failed, but
other European-based stations were disrupted. They included BBC, CNN and at
least 23 radio
stations.

The British Foreign Office has confirmed the jamming. Officials said both
London and
Washington have discussed the issue with the Libyan government.

At one point, an anonymous e-mail was sent to Sawt Al Amal's satellite
provider. The
e-mail said the disruption of satellite service stemmed from the opposition
broadcasts.

"This channel broadcasts terrorist propaganda, intended to spread terrorist
ideas amongst
the listeners minds," the e-mail read.

In November, Sawt Al Amal agreed to suspend service. The station's director
told the
Guardian newspaper that the company has lost about $500,000 in advertising
revenues.

The Libyan jamming effort, which has not been acknowledged by Tripoli,
represents the
latest tiff between Washington and the Khaddafy regime. Over the last few
months, U.S.
officials said Tripoli has reduced cooperation with the United States
regarding intelligence
on insurgency movements and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
(WorldTribune.com Dec 5)

------------xxxxxxxxxx Team CRW xxxxxxxxxx---------------------

Martin Schoech, Editor in Chief
Nick Grace, CRW Washington
Marwan Soliman, CRW Middle East
Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan
Richard Lafayette, Global Crisis Watch