By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 22 January 2014:
The Ministry of Information is trying to track the source of pro-Qaddafi satellite TV channels, because . . .[restrict]of concerns that they are spreading rumours that jeopardise the security and stability of the New Libya.
The main Egyptian satellite network, NileSat has denied that it had any contract with any Qaddafi-linked channels, deputy information minister Lamia Bu Sidra told the Libya Herald.
“The Egyptian company was very cooperative” said Bu Sidra, adding, “and the ministry is still working hard to follow the path of the channels, which is not easy”.
NileSat is a leading satellite broadcaster with 700 TV channels and 100 digital radio channels being distributed by its three satellites. Until July 2011, when Cairo court ordered it to stop, NileSat used to host the former regime’s 14-channel TV output.
The Cairo court ruling that led to that blocking of the Qaddafi channels, two and a half years ago, said the decision had been made because it had been established that “the Libyan government-linked channels spread false information about the revolution in Libya against Muammar Qaddafi’s rule”.
For its part, the former regime sought, unsuccessfully to block the output of Libyan rebel satellite stations, principally Al Hurrah, as well as Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. [/restrict]
