The Islamic State jihadist group (IS) appears to have stepped up its propaganda efforts in Libya by reportedly starting to broadcast its official radio station, Al-Bayan, which is already broadcasting in Syria (since June 2014) and Iraq (since the end of July 2014), from the eastern city of Darnah.
Sources for IS propaganda on Twitter, including reliable pro-IS accounts, congratulated the group on 1 June on the new launch.
IS supporter Iraq al-Faruq Umar (@O_oxtt) tweeted to "congratulate the brothers in Libya on the launch" and "offer them a modest design" showing the words "Al-Bayan radio" and "Darnah", as well as the frequency 95.5 MHz on a background of grass. This design was used by many IS sympathizers who tweeted about the channel consequently.
Long-standing supporter of IS and promoter of its propaganda Ahd (@3ahd_06) announced the "good news" and urged followers to "listen to channel, not to what is said about it".
IS propaganda has previously been disseminated on the airwaves in Libya. In February, militants linked to the group seized radio stations in Sirte when they took large swathes of the coastal city, and reportedly used these to air speeches by the group"s leader, Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Prior to this, a private TV and radio station in Sirte, Al-Tawhid (Monotheism) was reported in November 2014 to broadcast the "anthems and speeches of Islamic State" after pledging allegiance to the group the previous month. The group itself made no claim of controlling this channel.
Source: Media observation by BBC Monitoring 1 June 2015; quoted by BBC Monitoring Global Newsline Media File, 2 June 2015
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