Jordan refuses to probe TV jamming
After reports that an entity in Jordan blocked Al Jazeera’s world cup coverage, Amman says the case lacks evidence.
The Jordanian government has said that there is not enough evidence to investigate the scrambling of Al Jazeera’s sports channel during the football world cup.
Al Jazeera Satellite Network confirmed last month that its June transmissions of the competition in South Africa were deliberately jammed by a party in Jordan, using sophisticated equipment.
In reply to a request from Al Jazeera for further action, Ali al-Ayed, Jordan’s minister for media affairs, said in a statement on Monday that “no government or international body could agree to participate based on mere allegations, without providing evidence and information about them”.
Al Jazeera has previously said that it undertook extensive investigations conducted by independent international technology experts.
The UK’s Guardian newspaper also reported in September that it had obtained evidence showing that Jordan was the party behind the jamming, which frustrated thousands of Al Jazeera subscribers.
The Guardian said that the jamming was believed to have been in retaliation to the collapse of a deal that would have allowed Jordanian football fans free access to the matches.
However, Jordan has always maintained that it knows nothing of the blocked transmissions.
Al Jazeera had exclusive pay-TV rights to broadcast World Cup matches across the Middle East from North Africa to Iran.
The jamming has infuriated millions of Al Jazeera’s subscribers, when transmission suddenly turned to blank screens, pixelated images or commentary in the wrong languages during the opening match.