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New on MEMRI: Al-Rai TV – A Syrian Platform for Iraqi Terror Broadcasts
Al-Rai TV, which began broadcasting several months ago from Syria, provides coverage of events in the Middle East, focusing on terrorist attacks carried out by Sunni insurgents against U.S. forces and Iraqi security forces.
According to Arab media reports, Al-Rai TV is owned by former Iraqi MP Mish'an Al-Jabouri, former owner of Al-Zawraa TV – a channel that for several months in 2006 aired around-the-clock footage of terrorist attacks in Iraq. Following U.S. pressure, the Arab satellite companies Arabsat and Nilesat removed Al-Zawraa TV from their satellites, and the channel ceased to exist. Al-Jabouri fled to Syria after being implicated in several corruption scandals, for which he was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison.
In an interview reported on the Internet, Al-Jabouri denied that he owned Al-Rai TV, stating that the channel was registered to a Syrian national by the name of Raw'a Al-Awsati. It transpires, however, that Al-Awsati is Al-Jabouri's Syrian wife, who used to work as a secretary for Al-Zawraa TV.
Al-Rai TV is, in fact, a polished and upgraded version of Al-Zawraa TV. Its flagship weekly program "The Harvest of the Resistance," is presented by Hussein Hussein, who used to introduce footage of terror attacks on Al-Zawraa TV. On Al-Zawraa TV, Hussein Hussein appeared in guerilla fatigues; on Al-Rai TV, he wears a suit and tie.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memriiwmp.org/content/en/report.htm?report=2907.
Posted at: 2008-11-18
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