Why is Egypt airing insurgent TV from Iraq?

While many see Nilesat as Al Zawraa's staunch supporter, Jabouri complains that the satellite provider is already reacting to US pressure by raising technical obstacles that prevent him from sending new footage from the field, forcing him to loop already-broadcast material.

Al Zawraa began two years ago as an above-ground, hard-line Sunni TV station, based in Iraq, until the Iraqi government closed it down last November, around the time Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death. Today, it's an underground station with brutal, no-holds-barred content, often amateur, shaky footage showing American soldiers crumpling to the ground after being shoot, and alleged American atrocities against Iraqi civilians. The station's anchors wear military fatigues and rail against the Shiite-led Iraqi government.

The Iranian flag is superimposed over Iraq's Shiite leaders shown on air and news crawls call on viewers "to liberate Iraq from occupying US and Iranian forces" and say that "the mafia" of Moqtada al-Sadr are all "criminals and thieves."

The station closely resembles Islamic extremist websites, with even religious chanting backing up some footage, although Jabouri emphasizes that his station has no ties to Al Qaeda.

The business deal between Al Zawraa and Nilesat is all the more curious, commentators say, since Islamic extremism remains a threat in Egypt and Al Zawraa appears the perfect militant recruiting tool. But, it seems Egypt is more concerned about reasserting its leadership in the Sunni Arab world than it is in gagging a possible militant mouthpiece, analysts say.

This is also a sign that Egypt may be further distancing itself from Washington. Recently, it defiantly announced a nuclear energy program of its own and criticized Mr. Hussein's execution last month.

However, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Egyptian officials Monday to shore up this country's support for American efforts in Iraq. Ms. Rice is traveling through the Middle East on a trip intended largely to bolster support for President Bush's new plan to stabilize Iraq and to reassure the US's Arab allies of its commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Arab states are anxious for Washington to renew efforts to find a solution to the historical conflict, which they say is the underlying cause of the region's political problems.

In Egypt, Ms. Rice said, "We share risk and we share responsibility, because this is an area of the world which will very much be affected by how Iraq turns out."

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a frequent critic, was ready to give Mr. Bush's plan the benefit of the doubt. "We are supportive of that plan because we are hopeful that the plan would lead ensure the stability, the unity, and the cohesion of the Iraqi government."

• Material from Reuters was used in this report.

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