Al Jazeera was just the forward wave of jihad media. No doubt emboldened by America’s loss of resolve, we now have Al Qaeda TV, based in Syria and broadcast through a satellite operated by our friends the Egyptians.

AL QAEDA AND its allies now have their own 24-hour television station. Based at a secret studio in Syria, its signal is broadcast to the entire Arab world from a satellite owned by the Egyptian government. This development highlights al Qaeda’s increasingly sophisticated propaganda efforts.

Al Qaeda placed great emphasis on communicating its message effectively throughout 2006. Osama bin Laden and deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri issued more tapes in 2006 than in any year since the 9/11 attacks. In the past, al Qaeda tapes were generally released to Al Jazeera, but 2006 saw more Internet releases: the terrorist group’s message was thus more quickly disseminated. Al-Zawraa TV, the 24-hour insurgent station, is an extension of this trend.

Al-Zawraa hit the airwaves on November 14. According to Middle East-based media monitor Marwan Soliman and military analyst Bill Roggio, it was set up by the Islamic Army of Iraq, an insurgent group comprised of former Baathists who were loyal to Saddam Hussein and now profess their conversion to a bin Laden-like ideology.

The Islamic Army of Iraq is subordinate to the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni insurgent groups, including al Qaeda in Iraq. The Al-Zawraa channel is not only viewed as credible by users of established jihadist Internet forums, but as a strategically important information outlet as well. Moreover, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, is delighted by the station. A U.S. military intelligence officer told us that al-Masri “has long-term and big plans for this thing.”

Al Qaeda’s previous attempts at setting up propaganda outlets have been limited to satellite radio and the Internet. Al-Zawraa, however, appears to be well financed and may find a much broader audience. The channel is broadcast on Nilesat, a powerful satellite administered by the Egyptian government. Through Nilesat, Al-Zawraa’s signal blankets the Middle East and North Africa, thus ensuring that the insurgents’ message reaches every corner of the Arab world.

UPDATE at 1/3/07 11:27:07 am:

This terrorist television channel is not new; it’s been operating since 2005, but is just now getting attention. Here’s a report from November of last year: Insurgent TV thumbs nose at ban. (Hat tip: Brian.)

UPDATE at 1/3/07 11:28:54 am:

Bill Roggio has more: Al-Zawraa Responds to Muj TV.

UPDATE at 1/3/07 11:35:19 am:

The web site for Al-Zawraa is hosted in the United States.

UPDATE at 1/3/07 2:38:46 pm:

Al-Zawraa is listed openly on Nilesat’s channel lineup: Nilesat…Channels…Channels List(101). (Hat tip: zombie.)