BBC Monitoring

Al-Zawraa TV, the pro-Sunni television channel known for showing footage of insurgent attacks on US-led coalition forces has apologized to its viewers for the constant interruption to its signal, which it claims is caused by jamming.

    An on-screen ticker observed since 7 July states "The channel apologizes to its dear viewers for the cutting of its transmission on and off due to the jamming caused by those who do not want the voices of the free people to be heard."

    On 4 July, the channel apologized to viewers for ceasing 24-hour transmissions. An on-screen ticker read: "Al-Zawraa Channel announces that it will stop its daily transmission from 0200-0700 Baghdad time, [2200-0300 gmt], for technical reasons that are beyond our control."

    BBC Monitoring has observed that reception of the Al-Zawraa channel has been intermittent since 7 July, but that the station operated normally on 10-11 July.

    Observations made between 12-17 July show reception of the channel interrupted for long periods. Programming, when observed, remains a mixture of patriotic songs and footage of attacks on coalition forces. It is impossible to tell, however, whether the interrupted reception is due to deliberate jamming, or to other technical issues.

    On 11 July, Mishan al-Juburi, the owner of Al-Zawraa TV, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a court in Baghdad found him guilty in his absence of corruption charges. He had previously been stripped of his seat in the Iraqi parliament.

    Source: BBC Monitoring research 17 Jul 07