Al-Zawraa (or Al-Zawra) TV was a 24-hour Iraqi satellite television channel that was known for airing graphic videos of insurgent attacks on US-led Coalition forces accompanied by melodramatic Saddam-era martial music, and running commentary by camouflage-clad anchors. According to Iraqi officials, Al-Zawraa is a mouthpiece for the

Islamic Army in Iraq The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) ( ar, الجيش الإسلامي في العراق ''al jaysh al islāmi fī'l-`irāq'') was one of a number of underground Islamist militant (or '' mujahideen'') organizations formed in Iraq following the 2003 inv ...

, a Ba'athist-dominated insurgent group. The station was owned by

Misha'an al-Juburi Misha'an al-Juburi ( ar, مشعان الجبوري; born 1 August 1955) is an Iraqi politician from the Sunni Arab community and member of Al-Arabiya Coalition. He also was the head of Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc, which held three seats i ...

. Al-Zawraa was also known for airing anti-Shia propaganda, portraying Iraqi Shiites as "Iranian stooges". On 9 January 2008, the

U.S. Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

sanctioned Al-Zawraa television station for “broadcasting graphic videos of insurgent attacks against U.S. forces and advocating violence against Shia.” In January 2007, the station was noted broadcasting on the

Eutelsat Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Eutelsat's satellit ...

-owned Eurobird satellite and on the Arabsat/Badr satellite, both at the 26 degrees east orbital position. The Eurobird outlet was closed after only a few days' operation. The station's transmission was closed on the

Nilesat 101 Nilesat 101 is an Egyptian owned geosynchronous communications satellite that was decommissioned in February 2013. Launch Nilesat 101 was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana on 28 April 1998 at 22:53:00 UTC by Arianespac ...

satellite in February 2007 for "interference with other channels". It became available again on the 7W position via Atlantic Bird 4.

Programming

Typical programming for the channel included footage of insurgent snipers killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and video of IED attacks on coalition military vehicles. In many cases, these videos appear with patriotic, or anti-US style songs in the background, with the network asking viewers to comment on these videos by e-mail. Other programmes have included commentaries against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and, for a short time, news bulletins read by presenters wearing

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

army fatigues. The station was known to show

Hidden Camera Jihad Hidden Camera Jihad also known as Jihad Hidden Camera is a propaganda film widely available on the internet. The film features clips of American & British soldiers being killed by IEDs and snipers and is overdubbed with slapstick style sound effect ...

, a video compilation of insurgent operations against U.S. forces with slapstick-style soundtrack and video effects. The programmes were in Arabic, with occasional English subtitles.

Closure

The station appeared to close down in July 2007 after its transmissions via the

Arabsat The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and ...

satellite were jammed. It is now banned in Iraq.Egypt pulls plug on Al Zawraa , Media and Advertising

References

Television stations in Iraq Television channels and stations established in 2007 {{tv-station-stub