Libyan opposition launches TV channel with Qatar

The Libyan opposition is launching a satellite television channel, Ahrar TV, on Wednesday with the help of the Qatari government in counterbalance to state-controlled media.

Libyans have only been receiving information from media controlled by Muammar Gaddafi's government and from foreign satellite television channels, which Tripoli has been jamming in the past few weeks.

The new TV channel will go on the air at 7:30 p.m. local time (17:30 GMT) using the French Atlantic Bird satellite.

The U.S.-based Foreign Policy journal said the Qatari government had provided technical equipment of their culture channel Al-Rayyan to a group of Libyan journalists led by Mahmud Shammam, who arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The Libyan opposition has already launched Radio Free Libya and Radio Free Tobruk on mid-range bandwidths.

Libya has been engulfed in confrontation between the opposition and its 42-year ruler Gaddafi since mid-February. When the opposition took up arms, the UN Security Council voted for aerial bombing of Gaddafi-controlled strongholds and army bases, which began on March 19. On Sunday, NATO began taking over control of the operation carried out by leading Western nations.

MOSCOW, March 30 (RIA Novosti)

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