Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0520 gmt on 3 April carried the following announcer-read report:
“On the Libyan media scene, the channel, Libya al-Ahrar [the Free People of Libya], has been launched from Doha and, despite its short time on the air, officials are expecting it to win over the hearts of the Libyan people and find them regain their trust in their media, which Al-Qadhafi controlled for many years.”
The channel then carried a two-minute video report by its correspondent in the channel’s studio, Sa’id Abu-Khaffash. He said: “It [the channel] is not only named after the country, Libya, but is also a window that Libya looks through to see the outside world, and, through this window, the world will view Libya.”
The video then showed an interview with Saraj-al-Din Bin-Musa, an executive manager of the channel, who said: “Our idea is very simple. We want to make the voices of the oppressed Libyan people heard around the world and also heard by the Libyans who are within the county through a channel that is a mirror for them and that can reflect all the injustices they suffered.”
The correspondent then added: “Libya al-Ahrar broadcasts three hours a day and is waiting to broadcast six hours a day, following which it will broadcast for 12 hours a day. After that, it is hoping to have round-the-clock broadcasting.”
The video then carried an interview with the channel’s manager, Muhammad al-Akkari, who said: “We will focus on news, as you saw. There will also be political, social, and talk show programmes.”
The video then carried an interview with one of the channel’s staff members, who said: “I consider this channel to be the media front that defends the Libyan revolution.”
Nabil al-Hajj, an anchorman of the channel, was then shown saying: “I am from Tobruk in Libya and I left my life and family behind to come to this channel for the sole purpose of seeing Libya become free.”
The correspondent then carried an interview with one of the channel’s staff, who said: “My name is May Muhammad Bushnaf. I originally come from Benghazi but I came to the channel after leaving behind a diplomatic studies scholarship in the United States. I answered the call to work on the channel and to make the voice of the Libyan people within Libya heard, and also to reveal the lies and misinformation of the Libyan media.”
Al-Khaffash concluded his video report by saying: “Because it was born from the womb of the revolution, what is expected from the channel might not be limited to its role in carrying the news but could move to something more, such as participation in building a country that seems to have stopped at a particular time.”
(Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 0520 gmt 3 Apr 11via BBC Monitoring/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
