Iraq: Al-Zawraa TV observed on Atlantic Bird 4, Arabsat 2B satellites

[BGonaSTICK]

BBC Monitoring has observed Al-Zawraa TV, the Iraqi satellite television channel known for airing video footage of insurgent attacks on US-led coalition forces, is broadcasting on the Eutelsat-owned Atlantic Bird 4 satellite located at 7 degrees west. The station, owned by Mishan Juburi, leader of the Sunni Arab Front for Reconciliation and Liberation, was observed broadcasting on the Atlantic Bird 4 satellite on 6 March on the following parameters:

* Frequency: 10873 MHz (transponder 118)
* Polarization: Vertical
* Symbol Rate: 27500
* FEC: 3/4

Atlantic Bird 4, owned by Paris-based Eutelsat Communications, is co-located at 7 degrees West with the Egypt-owned Nilesat101 and Nilesat 102 satellites, and broadcasts signals on a footprint which covers the Mediterranean and Middle East regions.

The Al-Zawraa transmission on Atlantic Bird 4 cannot be seen in the United Kingdom. A map of the coverage area can be seen at www.eutelsat.com/satellites/7wab4_popd.html

According to the Lyngsat satellite news and information website, Transponder 118 on Atlantic Bird 4, which uses the 10873 MHz frequency, is operated by the Bahrain-based satellite services provider Noorsat, which has an English-language website at www.noorsat.com.

New Arabsat broadcast

A new transmission of Al-Zawraa has also been noted on the Arabsat 2B satellite at 30.5 degrees east. The Lyngsat website reported on 1 March that the station has started transmissions on the following parameters:

* Frequency: 12564 MHz (transponder 3)
* Polarization: Horizontal
* Symbol rate: 2170
* FEC: 3/4

Al-Zawraa continues to be observed on the [Arabsat] Badr 3 satellite at 26 degrees east, where an on-screen ticker informs viewers of the new Atlantic Bird transmission. The station was observed broadcasting on the Eutelsat-owned Eurobird 2 satellite in the 26 degrees East orbital position in January 2007, but ceased the following day.

Source: Media Network Weblog

[harrowwoman]

I picked this up only the other day and wondered what I was watching. It is an awful site which shows the murdering of British & American soldiers through sniper fire and explosives. It should be blocked, I cant see why this channel is allowed to broadcast at all-whats the difficulty. If it is not available to viewers in the UK - how come I get it then?

[BGonaSTICK]

Yes, it's very available and extremely offensive, but I guess 'they' might argue the same thing, with the coalition press conferences showing off their awesome firepower videos. The only mitigating factor with the latter is that footage doesn't normally show individuals being killed, or is at least using night-vision imagery.

[remlap]

Iraq looks to be recently getting alot more secure around the Baghdad city state (Which it clearly is these days).

They wont have much content soon.