A new US broadcast in Arabic to the Darfur region has been heard by shortwave listeners. It is not branded VOA, which has not had an Arabic service since Radio Sawa was created in 2002. Nor is it branded as Radio Sawa.
The schedule is:
0300-0330 UTC on 4960, 5995, 11635 kHz
1800-1830 UTC on 4960, 9650, 11635 kHz
1900-1930 UTC on 5880, 9650, 11635 kHz
Listeners have been noting Radio Sawa (not normally on shortwave) and Radio Free Iraq at some of the the above times and frequencies, rather than the Darfur broadcast, perhaps due to switching problems.
(Source: KimAndrewElliott.com)
Update 2015 UTC: Kim Andrew Elliott adds: I have been informed that the name of the broadcast is “Affia Darfur,” translated roughly as “Hi, Darfur” in Sudanese colloquial Arabic.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
