BBC satellite news disrupted in Mideast, Europe

[October 19, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- The British Broadcasting Corp. says someone is deliberately disrupting its broadcasts in the Middle East and Europe -- interference that follows previous accusations that Iran has attempted to jam the broadcaster's transmissions.

In a statement, the BBC said together with other broadcasters it had experienced "deliberate, intermittent interference" Thursday to its transmissions, including BBC World News, BBC Arabic television channels and BBC World Service radio channels broadcast in English and Arabic.

It did not name any specific suspect for the interference. Britain's Foreign Office, which said it was working to help address the problem, also declined to speculate on the culprit.

International broadcasters have previously accused Iran of increasing its intimidation of foreign media and accelerating efforts to jam satellite broadcasts from reaching Iranian audiences.

[Associated Press]

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