British and US diplomats have protested the Libyan government’s effort to jam an opposition radio station, which has led to the interruption of dozens of European and American television and radio stations. Libya’s attempt to scramble transmission of the Voice of Libya, which reported human rights violations by the regime of President Moammar Kaddafy, also caused the disruption of US military communications in the Mediterranean Sea.
Industry sources quoted by The Guardian in December said State department officials would “take it into their own hands unless interference stopped.”
Questions over the jam, which began in September, were also raised by the British Foreign Office and the UK’s telecom regulator Ofcom.
A few weeks after the Libyan government’s attempt, which knocked out CNN International and BBC World among others, the Libyan opposition re-launched the station under the name Voice of Hope through telstar12 satellite operating in the United States.