VZCZCXRO9857
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAM #3125/01 3221203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171203Z NOV 08 ZDK PER MULTIPLE REQUESTS
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3838
RUEIFBS/OSC RESTON VA
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6108
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003125 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (CORRECTED TAGS) 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/I, NEA/ELA, IIP/GNEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR IZ JO
SUBJECT: IRAQI MEDIA OUTLETS BASED IN JORDAN: PROFILES 
 
AMMAN 00003125  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) A number of Iraqi satellite television channels have 
established operations in Amman since 2005.  These channels offer 
news and entertainment programming aimed at primarily Sunni 
audiences in Iraq and in neighboring countries.  Following is a 
profile of the major channels, based on interviews conducted jointly 
by Embassy's Open Source Center and Public Affairs Section. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Aghanina Channel:  Emboffs met recently with Sameer Rassam, 
owner and chairman of the channel, and with Director Husayn 
al-Asadi, head of the Public Relations Department. The channel has 
been airing Iraqi and Arabic songs from Amman since November 2007 
along with cultural programs which target Iraqi youth ages 15-25. 
The mission of the channel is to instill hope in Iraqi youth through 
songs promoting concepts of coexistence and peace and denouncing 
bloodshed.  The channel also seeks to promote Iraqi artists and 
singers residing outside Iraq as a result of extremist threats and 
violence targeting performers. 
 
Aghanina's revenue derives mainly from SMS messages. According to 
the director, the channel received 1,500 messages daily when it was 
launched, and now it receives over 10,000 messages daily. Eighty 
percent of the viewership is from Iraq while the rest reside in 
Syria, Jordan, and Gulf countries.  According to the channel, the 
Government of Iraq (GOI) denies the channel the opportunity to air 
advertisements against terrorism because of the channel's name, "Our 
Songs," though at least one other satellite channel, Rotana, is 
allowed to air such ads. 
 
Emboffs were given a tour of the channel's modest studio facilities, 
and watched the editing of a program titled Shako Mako "What's 
Up"), which aired during Ramadan. The program aimed to reach out to 
poor Iraqi families residing in Amman.  The presenter, an Iraqi 
Armenian teenager named Rafi, visits poor Iraqi families and 
delivers Iftar meals consisting of Iraqi food platters.  At the end 
of the program he presents a gift to the family. 
 
The channel has offices in Syria, Baghdad, and Al-Sulaymaniyah. The 
Amman office has 23 employees (13 employees work at the 7th Circle 
office, while the rest work at the channel's office in the Media 
City in Jordan).  In the near future, the channel has plans to 
transmit its signal on the Hotbird satellite in order to reach 
Iraqis residing in the U.S. and Canada. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Baghdad Satellite Channel:  Emboffs also visited the 
headquarters of Baghdad Satellite Channel located in the Umm 
al-Sumaq area in Amman.  Emboffs met with Sa'd al-Tikriti, the 
channel's director.  Al-Tikriti said the channel started in 2005, 
transmitting from Baghdad.  At that time, the channel hired 
employees of the former Information Ministry.  In April 2007, the 
channel's headquarters in Baghdad was targeted by a vehicle borne 
IED, after which the channel relocated its headquarters to Amman. 
It currently operates from a villa in a residential area in west 
Amman under a license from the Jordanian Audiovisual Commission. 
The channel is facing legal problems with the municipality for being 
located in a residential area. 
 
The channel employs 70 staff in Amman, twenty as news editors and 
correspondents.  Twelve of the 70 employees are Jordanian nationals, 
while the rest are Iraqis.  The channel has 50 employees working in 
Baghdad, and has other correspondents in Mosul, Kurdistan, 
Salah-al-Din, Al-Hillah, Al-Anbar, Al-Najaf, and Basra.  The channel 
is currently working on hiring a correspondent in Al-Nasiriyah. 
Recently, the channel opened an office in Beirut and is preparing to 
open one in Egypt.  Syria recently refused to permit the channel to 
open an office. 
 
Baghdad Satellite Channel is currently conducting surveys in five 
Iraqi governorates to determine viewership levels. Al-Tikriti stated 
the channel aims to represent "the ambitions of the Sunnis in 
Baghdad."  He also stated the channel receives no support from the 
GOI, though it is supported by the Sunni Al-Tawafuq Front. 
Advertisements and sponsorships are the main tools for generating 
revenue.  The sponsors include unnamed non-government organizations 
which provide media training to channel staff.  In 2008, Baghdad 
Satellite Channel signed four leases to use the nearby studios of 
the Jordanian ATV channel. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Al-Babiliyah Channel:  Al-Babiliyah Channel is located in 
the Jabal al-Weibdah area of Amman.  Emboffs met with Sadiq 
al-Mutlaq, chairman and owner of the channel, along with former 
Iraqi Ambassador Sa'dun al-Zubaydi, and Haydar al-Mulla. 
 
Al-Babiliyah Channel launched its Amman-based signal in early 2007. 
Haydar al-Mulla initially identified the channel as a mouthpiece for 
the National Dialogue Front of Salih al-Mutlaq, stating that the 
channel's mission is to highlight current Iraqi domestic political 
affairs.  He added that the channel also airs news on regional 
issues affecting the Iraqi political arena.  Ambassador al-Zubaydi 
 
AMMAN 00003125  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
disputed al-Mulla's account, saying that the channel is an 
independent media entity that is not affiliated with the National 
Dialogue Front.  He asserted that while Sadiq al-Mutlaq is the 
brother of Salih al-Mutlaq, "this does not mean the channel 
dedicates the bulk of its reports to cover Salih al-Mutlaq's 
political activity or that the channel receives funding from the 
National Dialogue Front."  For his part, Al-Mutlaq said that the 
channel is non-sectarian, and that its main mission is "to unify the 
ranks of all Iraqis and to reject heinous sectarianism." 
 
Al-Mutlaq said that the channel has offices in Syria, UAE, Canada, 
and Baghdad. Twelve correspondents work in Iraq. Fifty employees 
work at the Amman Office. The channel broadcasts from Jordan's Media 
City and has another office in Amman located in the Al-Jubayhah area 
where the channel's studios are located.  According to Al-Zubaydi, 
Al-Babiliyah receives between 10,000 and 15,000 SMS messages daily, 
indicative of its viewership. 
 
Al-Mutlaq stated that he is the owner of two companies based in 
Dubai which provide enough revenues for operating Al-Babiliyah. 
Revenues derive from SMS messages and commercial advertisements. 
Al-Mutlaq stated that Al-Babiliyah was the first channel to air 
anti-terrorism and anti-Al-Qa'ida advertisements. He also denied 
receiving any funding from the Iraqi National Dialogue Front. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Emboffs met as well with Faysal al-Yasiri, owner of the 
Al-Diyar Satellite Channel, at his home in Amman. 
 
Al-Yasiri said that Al-Diyar started in March 2007 as the first 
independent satellite channel aimed at a general audience and which 
was not supported or funded by any party.  The channel's 
headquarters in Baghdad is located in the same building as that of 
Al-Jazeera, 200 meters away from the Green Zone.  Al-Yasiri said the 
main broadcasting is done from Baghdad.  The channel also broadcasts 
from Jordan's Media City in Amman as a back-up, especially between 
1400-1700 hours in the summertime, allowing the Baghdad equipment 
and circuits "to cool off." 
 
Al-Yasiri said that the channel airs news summaries every two hours 
and a program called Minkum wa Ilaykum ("From You and To You") in 
which "news reports are gathered from the people and address their 
problems."  Al-Diyar also broadcasts a program in which the host 
"criticizes official acts of corruption in a very cynical manner." 
According to Al-Yasiri, the program is popular among Iraqi 
officials.  Yet another live program is titled "Baghdad Now and 
Baghdad Today," and features on-the-spot broadcasts from areas in 
Baghdad "that suffer from the effects of the war," drawing on 
on-camera statements by local residents. 
 
Al-Diyar currently employs 132 employees, and has branches in 
Al-Najaf, Al-Amarah, and Babil.  Because the channel is perceived to 
be independent and anti-corruption, other party-supported channels 
have requested that Al-Diyar carry their news reports on its 
scrolling news bar.  Al-Yasiri provided Emboffs with copies of 
Al-Diyar's corporate objectives. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Emboffs also recently visited the Iraqi Economic Channel 
located in west Amman and met with Alhan al-Shammari, director and 
wife of the owner, Abbas Kamel. The channel identifies itself as an 
independent Iraqi economic and trade satellite broadcaster that 
focuses on increasing development in Iraq.  The channel airs the 
announcements of bids and other economic initiatives by GOI 
agencies.  It also profiles Iraqi companies in manufacturing, trade, 
and construction sectors.  It occasionally treats human development 
issues related to refugees, unemployment, education, and 
healthcare. 
 
Operating since June 2008 in Amman, the channel is still going 
through the procedures to obtain a broadcast license from the GOJ. 
Approximately 60 percent of the channel's reporting will focus on 
Iraqi economic affairs and 40 percent on international economic 
issues.  The channel employs 18 in its Amman office.  Other offices 
are located in Syria, Bahrain, Dubai, and Egypt.  Inside Iraq, the 
channel has offices in Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Mosul, Karbala, 
Sulaymaniyah, and Erbil. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Finally, Emboffs visited the Al-Qitharah Channel located on 
Third Circle in Amman.  Emboffs met Deputy Chairman Shakir al-Falahi 
who said he is a partner in the channel along with a Jordanian 
citizen named Muhammad al-Ajluni.  Ajluni serves as chairman of 
Al-Qitharah.  He also owns Arab Broadcast Services (ABS), a 
broadcast feeder network based in Amman.  Al-Falahi said that 
Al-Qitharah operates under the auspices of the ABS.  He identified 
the channel as having a music video format restricted to Iraqi 
ballads and other love songs. 
 
Al-Qitharah is currently broadcasting from Cairo with offices in 
Damascus, Amman, and Baghdad where it operates under the name 
 
AMMAN 00003125  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
Al-Misq.  Al-Falahi said that the channel's Damascus office is the 
most active office due to the large community of Iraqi singers and 
performing artists currently residing there.  Al-Falahi claimed the 
channel had achieved a significant following among a youth audience 
in northern Iraq and Baghdad. 
 
Due to technical and financial problems, the channel has suspended 
its broadcast signal twice.  One suspension lasted four months.  The 
channel employs two persons in Amman, ten in Cairo, and four in 
Damascus, most of who are of Iraqi origin.  Its Damascus office is 
headed by Sameer Fraq, an Iraqi. 
 
According to Al-Falahi, the channel is independent, and relies on 
SMS messages and commercials for revenue, along with financial 
support, primarily in the form of employee salaries, from ABS.  The 
channel also receives income from the rent of its four Satellite 
News Gathering (SNG) devices to other satellite channels.  He added 
that the Al-Qitharah has been denied the opportunity to air 
anti-terrorism commercials by the GOI. 
 
When asked about Raghad Saddam Hussein's involvement in the channel, 
Al-Falahi denied that Raghad has links with the channel, saying this 
a "mere rumor" based on the association of its former director Jawad 
al-Ali, with Uday Saddam Hussein.  Al-Falahi said if Raghad Saddam 
Hussein were to launch a channel, it would be a news channel that 
disseminates her father's ideology. 
 
BEECROFT