By Ajnadin Mustafa and Farah Waleed.
Tripoli/Benghazi, 4 September 2014:
Libya Al-Rasmiya TV was reported this morning to be broadcasting again . . .[restrict]on a new Nilesat frequency, although some residents in Tripoli say they have been unable to receive it.
It and Libya Al-Wataniya TV, both of which have adopted a staunchly pro-Libya Dawn and anti-House of Representatives line, were forced off air last month when Nilesat stopped rebroadcasting them. The Egyptian satellite broadcasting company did so at the request of the Libya government, which owns both stations.
There are claims that Rasmiya has now managed to present itself as a private broadcaster.
However, its boss, Nizam Tayyari, remains a staunch supporter of the anti-HoR movement. He was appointed spokesman for Omar Al-Hassi’s “government” this week as well as its deputy information minister.
Meanwhile it is reported that Wataniya is being revived as a government and HoR station, based in Tobruk. Staff who resigned from the Qatar-based Libya Al-Ahrar TV station because of its anti-HoR stance are said to be planning to relaunch the station which is to have live coverage of House proceedings.
The Libyan news agency LANA has become another battlefield in the current media war between the two sides, staff say. According to one member, he and others who walked out after they were ordered last month to support the Libya Dawn operation, were told on Tuesday that if they did not return to work immediately they would be punished, first with their salaries being stopped and then, if they still did not turn up, by being sacked.
The threats would make no difference, he said. He and the others – he claimed over half the staff were refusing to go back to work at present – would not be coerced into returning in the present circumstances.
In any event, he said, staff had not been paid for two months. [/restrict]
