Zarqawi Speech Broadcast on Radio Tajdeed
By Nick Grace
May 23, 2005
Radio Tajdeed, a satellite program targeting Saudi Arabia and run by a man with extensive al Qaeda ties, broadcast extensive audio of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Saturday, May 21.
Global Crisis Watch (GCW) Middle East correspondent Marwan Soliman reports exclusively in a special edition of the program that the station fulfilled a promise made during an earlier transmission to air the speech.
"They started the speech by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi exacty at 1800 hours UTC... I noticed that after around 30 minutes they stopped and just announced the frequency they are using on the (Eutelsat) Hotbird satellite. And then it was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi back again. I noticed that they did not complete the whole speech this time. Before the end of the speech they began transmitting some Islamic chants and rhymes talking about that Jihad and that they should fight the Saudi government."
TheZarqawi recording, Soliman reports, is the same that was released on May 18 and not a new one.
Although Radio Tajdeed, which has also broadcast songs that promote Usama bin Laden, broadcasts chiefly to Saudi Arabia its signal can be heard inside of Iraq. The broadcast is also streamed live on the Tajdeed Web site, which Soliman notes can also be accessed in Iraq.
An excerpt of Radio Tajdeed introducing the speech and of the speech itself can be heard in GCW's latest program.
http://www.clandestineradio.com/gcw/050523.mp3
It remains unclear why the station broadcast the speech and what, if any, actions the British government will and perhaps can take. British authorities raided the station's studios on May 6 as it was live on the air and its sponsor, Dr. Mohammed al-Massari, later said that the investigation is related to alleged ties with the kidnappers of Australian national Douglas Wood in Iraq.
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