§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what facilities for broadcasting in the Arabic language are currently available to the external services of the British Broadcasting Corporation; what are the power, range, number of hours per week and estimated audience of the stations at present transmitting from Malta 176W and Aden; when the station in Cyprus was closed and for what reason; and when the transmitter destroyed in Perim in 1965 will be replaced in Masirah.
§ Mr. MulleyThe British Broadcasting Corporation's Arab broadcasts are carried on short wave by transmitters in the United Kingdom and in Cyprus and on medium wave by two 100 kw transmitters in Cyprus which should be clearly audible during the hours of darkness throughout the Arabic countries of the Middle East other than those in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, by a 10 kw transmitter in Malta which covers part of North Africa, and by a 10 kw transmitter in Aden which covers the neighbourhood of Aden. There is no scientific basis for an estimate of the audience of the Malta and Aden relays. At present the British Broadcasting Corporation's Arabic Service is broadcast for 84 hours a week. The Cyprus Relays have not been closed. It is hoped that the new transmitter at Masirah will come into operation in July, 1968.