VZCZCXRO9630
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0953 1701403
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191403Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9404
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3064
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 1610
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1313
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000953
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
NEA/RA FOR MONOSSON, NEA/ARP FOR JACKSON
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017
TAGS: SA KU TC KPAL KPAO ETTC PREL PTER
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP DEMARCHE REGARDING CONTINUED ARABSAT
BROADCAST OF AL-ZAWRAA AND AL-MANAR
REF: A. SECSTATE 84112
B. KUWAIT 749
C. KUWAIT 278
Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Timothy A. Lenderking for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Ministry of
Information Assistant Under Secretary for Technical Affairs
Nasser Al-Safar on 18 June. Al-Safar said the points would
be forwarded to the Information Minister prior to his
departure for the meeting of Arab League Ministers of
Information in Cairo.
2. (C) Econoff spoke separately on 18 June with Under
Secretary of Communication Abdulaziz Alosaimi since the
SIPDIS
Communications Ministry represents Kuwait on the Arabsat
Board of Directors. Alosaimi agreed that these transmissions
are dangerous but said that the Board of Directors does not
get directly involved in the management of Arabsat. He
suggested that the best way to influence Arabsat policy is
through Arabsat President and CEO Khaled Balkheyour.
3. (C) In a previous meeting with Poloff on 30 April,
Al-Safar said it is technically impossible to block the
downlink of satellite broadcasts, so the only way to block a
particular transmission is to prevent it from reaching the
satellite (uplink). According to Al-Safar, if a broadcaster
were technically savvy enough, he could examine which
frequencies a satellite was not using and then beam a signal
up to it on one of those frequencies. Once the satellite
administrators learned that one of their frequencies was
being "hijacked," that particular frequency could be blocked,
but the broadcaster could then simply shift his transmission
to another available frequency.
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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LeBaron