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28 March 2024

Libyan intelligence accused of sabotaging TV signals

Published
By Staff
The Saudi-owned satellite TV Arabic language news channel Alarabiya has accused Libya’s intelligence of sabotaging its signal and forcing it to switch to new frequencies on the Egyptian satellite Nilesat.
Alarabiya went off air this week and told its viewers to switch to other satellite frequencies to watch its coverage of the ongoing bloody unrest in Libya, a key OPEC oil producer with crude reserves of nearly 50 billion barrels,
“A Libyan intelligence centre southeast of (the capital) Tripoli is jamming Alarabiya channel but viewers can see the channel on new frequencies,” Alarabiya said in a brief announcement on Saturday night.
The TV channel gave no reason for the Libyan action but authorities loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have often accused Alarabiya of siding with the opposition which has been locked in a war with government forces for nearly two weeks to end Gaddafi’s 42-year rule.
Alarabiya's rival, Aljazeera of Qatar, has also been jammed and forced to shift its service to new frequencies on Nilesat and Arabsat.
Most of the other 11 satellite channels in the Saudi-owed Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC), which owns Alarabiya, have also been jammed following the eruption of the conflict in Libya.
MBC was launched in London in 1991 and later moved its headquarters to Dubai. The company, owned by a group of Saudi businessmen and chaired by Sheikh Walid Al-Ibrahim, comprises 12 channels including Alarabiya, MBC 1, MBC2, MBC 3, MBC 4, MBC Action, MBC Drama, MBC Max and others.