By Libya Herald staff.
Tunis, 19 November 2014:
Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR) and its Abdullah Thinni government are set to launch its . . .[restrict]second Al-Wataniya TV channel, from Tunis. The channel will broadcast on the 11353 frequency from the Nilesat satellite.
At an event in the Tunisian capital attended by the head of the Media Authority of the Thinni government, Omar Al-Guweri, it was revealed that this latest Al-Wataniya channel will broadcast from Tunis on a temporary basis – the implication being that it will return to broadcasting from Tripoli as and when the pro-HoR government regains control of the Libyan capital.
The first pro-HoR channel, also called Al-Wataniya, currently broadcasts from Tobruk and Al-Beida in the east of Libya.
Initially there was only one Al-Wataniya channel in Libya, but after the Islamist-Misrata-led Libya Dawn coalition occupied Tripoli in July, the pro HoR government shut down its Nilesat transmission from Tripoli. At the same time, many Al-Wataniya staff resigned and headed east to set up the Tobruk channel.
To add to the confusion, the “National Salvation Government” of Omar Al-Hassi, now broadcasts on another channel but which is also called Al-Wataniya.
The launch of a second pro-HoR Al-Wataniya channel comes in the broader framework of the competition by the two sides in Libya for legal, popular and international recognition.
As a result of the 25 June 2014 parliamentary elections, the outgoing GNC was supposed to hand over power to the newly elected House of Representatives. However, the handover process was disputed by the losing GNC members and their supporters leading to the military occupation of Tripoli. [/restrict]
