International
shortwave radio monitors have confirmed that VOA broadcasts in the Amharic
language are being jammed in Ethiopia.
The static began February 22 on all five VOA shortwave frequencies
aimed at East Africa in the 25 and 31-meter shortwave bands.
The other foreign broadcast heard in Ethiopia, the German
government's Deutsche Welle Amharic language program, also reports
experiencing some interference, in the past few days.
VOA and Deutsche Welle were jammed around the time of the last
parliament election in 2005, and again before the 2008 nationwide local
elections. The next crucial parliament vote is scheduled for May 23.
Ethiopian officials have often described VOA's Amharic Service as the
voice of the opposition, saying its broadcasts reveal an
anti-government bias.
The Voice of America is a multi-media international broadcasting
service funded by the U.S. Government. VOA broadcasts more than 1,500
hours of news and other programming every week in 49 languages.
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