A new Shiite-Sunni radio station offers hope in northern Iraq
By Sahar Issa
McClatchy Newspapers
BAQUBA, Iraq _In one of the most violent provinces in Iraq, two Shiites and two Sunnis kicked off their first broadcast of a new radio and television station on Sunday. Their message is one of peace, and they hope it will help quiet the sectarian violence that has shattered their lives in the bloody province of Diyala, which has a Sunni majority.
Inside a U.S. army outpost southeast of Baquba, cut off from the outside world with Iraqi and U.S. soldiers surrounding them, with U.S. help the three men and one woman restarted the station, which once operated under Saddam Hussein’s rule and, later, as part of the Iraqi Media Network.
“I feel we are standing on the pages of the history books. It is time to make our mark. I am carrying the most effective weapon in this war. It is my microphone and it will carry my voice,” said Samir Khamies, 28, a Sunni from Baquba and co-founder of the Independent Radio and Television Station.
They’re funding comes from advertising revenue bought by the U.S. 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division in Diyala to send out coalition messages. The brigade invested $36,000 to start the station. A Global Outreach Team from the U.S. Embassy was commissioned to help. They used jumper cables and a 12-volt battery to restart the radio transmitter, and they use a tower built for Saddam to preach a message of unity.
But the price is dear.
Rafed Mahmood moved his wife and two young children into the station with him to protect them from revenge killings. The families of the three other members have moved to other provinces to avoid retribution.
Their hometown of Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, has slowly been taken over by the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al-Qaida linked group that last year declared an Islamic state in several Sunni and mixed-sect provinces. But the provincial council is filled with members of the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, and fighting rages. >>>cont
LinkHere
McClatchy Newspapers
BAQUBA, Iraq _In one of the most violent provinces in Iraq, two Shiites and two Sunnis kicked off their first broadcast of a new radio and television station on Sunday. Their message is one of peace, and they hope it will help quiet the sectarian violence that has shattered their lives in the bloody province of Diyala, which has a Sunni majority.
Inside a U.S. army outpost southeast of Baquba, cut off from the outside world with Iraqi and U.S. soldiers surrounding them, with U.S. help the three men and one woman restarted the station, which once operated under Saddam Hussein’s rule and, later, as part of the Iraqi Media Network.
“I feel we are standing on the pages of the history books. It is time to make our mark. I am carrying the most effective weapon in this war. It is my microphone and it will carry my voice,” said Samir Khamies, 28, a Sunni from Baquba and co-founder of the Independent Radio and Television Station.
They’re funding comes from advertising revenue bought by the U.S. 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division in Diyala to send out coalition messages. The brigade invested $36,000 to start the station. A Global Outreach Team from the U.S. Embassy was commissioned to help. They used jumper cables and a 12-volt battery to restart the radio transmitter, and they use a tower built for Saddam to preach a message of unity.
But the price is dear.
Rafed Mahmood moved his wife and two young children into the station with him to protect them from revenge killings. The families of the three other members have moved to other provinces to avoid retribution.
Their hometown of Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, has slowly been taken over by the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al-Qaida linked group that last year declared an Islamic state in several Sunni and mixed-sect provinces. But the provincial council is filled with members of the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, and fighting rages. >>>cont
LinkHere
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