LA NUEVA CUBA

Alex Picarq   Evi Jimenez   Roberto A. Solera

CUBA SAYS IRAN WAS JAMMING US SATELLITE BROADCAST: State Department     Terranet AFP Lebanon USA La Nueva Cuba Agosto 20, 2003 Cuba has told the United States that an Iranian diplomatic facility in or near Havana was the source of the jamming that disrupted US Farsi-language satellite broadcasts to Iran last month, the State Department said. And, in an unusual display of cooperation between the Cold War enemies, Havana appears to have actually acted on pledges to halt the interference which had prompted a formal protest from Washington, it said. "It has ceased," said Jo-Anne Prokopowicz, a department spokeswoman. After denying that it was responsible for the jamming but pledging to investigate the US complaints in mid-July, Cuba told the United States that it had found the source and had acted to stop it, she said. "Cuba informed us on August 3 that they had located the source of the interference and had taken action to stop it," Prokopowicz said. "The government of Cuba informed us that the interference was coming from an Iranian diplomatic facility," she said, adding: "We will be following this up with Iran." On July 15, the US government-affiliated Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) accused Cuba of jamming its programming, as well as that of private US-based Iranian opposition satellite television stations, to Iran. The jamming, which affected all Farsi-language broadcasts carried by the Loral Skynet satellite, became pronounced amid growing protests in Iran against the Tehran government. Iran said at the time that the US broadcasts into the country were interference in its internal affairs and accused the US-based Iranian opposition of inflaming the protests. Shortly after the BBG complaint, which was accompanied by request for a formal diplomatic protest about the jamming, the State Department said the interference appeared to be emanating from Cuba, but could not say exactly who was behind it.         .                 CTIVIS