US, Iraq push Egypt to stop pro-insurgency station

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Washington and Baghdad are pressuring Egypt to remove from its satellite an Iraqi TV station that supports Sunni insurgents, airing a steady stream of footage of attacks on US and Iraqi troops, grisly pictures of dead babies and denunciations of Iraq's Shiite leadership. So far, Egypt has refused to take Al-Zawraa off the air. Observers say its resistance is a sign that while this top US ally has backed Washington's push for reconciliation between Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis, it is also hedging its bets and wants to bolster Iraq's Sunnis against the growing power of Shiite Iran. Al-Zawraa, founded by a former Iraqi Sunni lawmaker, has been transmitted for the past eight months on Egypt's government-owned NileSat satellite, allowing it to be seen across the Arab world at a time of increasing tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.