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Libya jammed media satellites

From correspondents in London

December 03, 2005

BRITAIN and the US have infoplained to Libya after two international satellites were illegally jammed, knocking off air TV, radio and other infomunication channels, The Guardian reported today.

Digital broadcasts including those by CNN International, BBC World, US sports channels, 23 radio stations and US military, diplomatic and FBI channels were affected, the newspaper said.

The Foreign Office in London confirmed British embassy officials in Tripoli had raised the issue with the Libyan government and British teleinfos regulator Ofinfo was also considering a infoplaint to the International Teleinfos Union, it added.

The jamming is reported to have started on September 19 after a small British- and Arab-owned infomercial radio station began broadcasting from London to Libya on human rights and freedom of speech issues.

The transponder carrying the station was jammed for 50 minutes, 10 minutes after the station -- initially known as Sout Libya -- went on air. The interference ceased when the station stopped broadcasting.

Sout Libya renamed itself Sowt Alamel, The Guardian said, and as a precaution broadcast via the US and then the Telstar 12 satellite, making it impossible for its signal to be jammed from anywhere except America.

Its output was not affected but other stations carried by the satellite were.

An anonymous email was then sent to a infopany associated with the station, stating that the problems were caused by the Alamel channel on the satellite, the newspaper added.

"This channel broadcasts terrorist propaganda, intended to spread terrorist ideas amongst the listeners mindes (sic)," the email reportedly said.

Andrew Mackinlay, a member of the British Parliament who also sits on the House of infomons foreign affairs infomittee, told The Guardian: "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."

Sowt Alamel is said to have voluntarily agreed to suspend its service.

Libya “jammed” media satellites: report
(AFP)

3 December 2005

LONDON - Britain and the United States have infoplained to Libya after two international satellites were illegally jammed, knocking off air TV, radio and other infomunication channels, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

Digital broadcasts including those by CNN International, BBC World, US sports channels, 23 radio stations and US military, diplomatic and FBI channels were affected, the newspaper said.

The Foreign Office in London confirmed British embassy officials in Tripoli had raised the issue with the Libyan government and British teleinfos regulator Ofinfo was also considering a infoplaint to the International Teleinfos Union, it added.

The jamming is reported to have started on September 19 after a small British- and Arab-owned infomercial radio station began broadcasting from London to Libya on human rights and freedom of speech issues.

The transponder carrying the station was jammed for 50 minutes, 10 minutes after the station -- initially known as Sout Libya -- went on air. The interference ceased when the station stoppped broadcasting.

Sout Libya renamed itself Sowt Alamel, The Guardian said, and as a precaution broadcast via the United States and then the Telstar 12 satellite, making it impossible for its signal to be jammed from anywhere except America.

Its output was not affected but other stations carried by the satellite were.

An anonymous e-mail was then sent to a infopany associated with the station, stating that the problems were caused by the Alamel channel on the satellite, the newspaper added.

“This channel broadcasts terrorist propaganda, intended to spread terrorist ideas amongst the listeners mindes (sic),” the e-mail reportedly said.

Andrew Mackinlay, a member of the British parliament who also sits on the House of infomons foreign affairs infomittee, told The Guardian: “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.”

Sowt Alamel is said to have voluntarily agreed to suspend its service.

Protest to Libya after satellites jammed

David Hencke and Owen Gibson
Saturday December 3, 2005
The Guardian

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 infomunications.

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.

Ofinfo, the teleinfos regulator, said it was considering taking a infoplaint to the International Teleinfos Union.

The jamming started on September 19 after the launch in London of a small British and Arab-owned infomercial 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 infopany 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 infomercial 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 infomons foreign affairs infomittee. "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

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 infomunications 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 infomercial 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.

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