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Last Words
U.S. forces curb use of media satphones in Iraq
by Reuters
30/03/2003
CENTRAL IRAQ, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. military commanders in Iraq have banned the use of certain satellite phones carried by journalists attached to their units, apparently fearing the signal could give away their location to Iraqi forces.
Several Reuters reporters with U.S. forces in Iraq said on Sunday they had been told to switch their Thuraya satellite phones off. One said his phone was being confiscated.
"Officers have ordered me to hand my phone in and I am giving it to one of the officers," correspondent Matthew Green said. Other journalists travelling with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were also having phones taken, he said. "They say it's for security, that the Iraqis can use it to triangulate the signal and fire missiles," Green said.
Several journalists travelling with non-Marine units said they were still able to use their phones, although they had heard about the order.
Questioned on the new rules, Major-General Victor Renuart told a news briefing at U.S. Central Command in Qatar on Saturday the order was not meant to restrict media coverage.
"On the battlefield operational security is critical and there are times and places on the battlefield in which you need to make sure no communications go out," he said. "We want to make sure nothing gets out that may tip the hand of the Iraqis."
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said the restrictions on Thurayas were not "a theatre-wide prohibition".
Written guidance issued to journalists by the U.S. Central Command before the start of the war says commanders in the field "may impose temporary restrictions on electronic transmissions for operational security reasons".
Thuraya handsets can work on normal mobile networks or as satellite phones.
They use a Geographical Positioning System (GPS), which could be one reason for military concern.
Thuraya's location-finding system is highly accurate -- a user can be identified to within 100 metres (yards) of where he or she is standing. Rival Iridium satellite phones, which appear to have escaped the U.S. military clampdown, have a less accurate location-finding system, experts say.
But any long term ban on Thurayas would cripple the ability of journalists to file real time reports from the battlefields, one of the most notable features of the first week of war.
Several technical experts said they were unaware of any field-level technology that could be used to locate GPS users placing calls.
Iridium satellite phones download their user location and billing data to the United States. Thuraya location data is downloaded to Thuraya headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
Iridium handsets are used by the U.S. military. (With additional reporting by Eric Auchard)
The full article appeared at Reuters
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