Radio <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/06/europe/EU-GEN-Czech-Radio-Free-Eu rope.php> Free Europe to expand broadcasting to Iran, end to Romania, Macedonia The Associated Press Tuesday, February 6, 2007 <http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/34f2/3/0/%2a/r%3B67994049%3B0-0%3B0% 3B7973244%3B4252-336/280%3B19633324/19651218/1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp%3A%2F% 2Fwww.iht.com/pages/yourmoney/index.php> <http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/34f2/3/0/%2a/r%3B67994049%3B0-0%3B0% 3B7973244%3B4252-336/280%3B19633324/19651218/1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp%3A%2F% 2Fwww.iht.com/pages/yourmoney/index.php> <http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/europe.iht.com;cat=index;sz=336x280;ord=1234 56789?> PRAGUE, Czech Republic
The U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Tuesday it planned to expand broadcasts to Iran and end programming for Romania and Macedonia. The fiscal year 2008 budget proposal is designed to expand news and information programming for Radio Farda and its Web site, the broadcaster said in a statement. Radio Farda is RFE/RL's Persian service. It is operated jointly with the Voice of America radio broadcaster. The budget request, which has to be approved by U.S. Congress, is in line with the radio's recent efforts to concentrate more on parts of the Middle East and Asia. "We are eager to continue to enrich our programming for Iran," said Jeffrey Trimble, the RFE/RL acting president. The proposal also expects broadcasting to Romania and Macedonia to end and programming for Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the republics of former Yugoslavia to be reduced, the statement said without details. "The budget request for RFE/RL is sufficient to support our continuing mission to promote freedom and democracy to peoples in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central and Southwestern Asia," Trimble said. He said that the proposed cuts are needed for the Washington-based Broadcasting Board of Governors, the station's managing body, "to achieve its stated priority of strengthening targeted programming to provide essential access to news and information to critical audiences." RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit corporation, which receives funding from the U.S. government. It was established in 1949 to spread pro-Western news and promote democratic values and institutions in countries behind the Iron Curtain. The station moved its headquarters to Prague from Munich, Germany, in 1995, after communism collapsed here in 1989. It has broadcast in 28 languages to 20 countries, including Iran and Iraq, since 1998, and Afghanistan, from 2002. On the Net: RFE/RL: <http://www.rferl.org/> http://www.rferl.org/ Radio Farda: <http://www.radiofarda.com/> http://www.radiofarda.com/ Copyright C 2007 The International Herald Tribune | <http://www.iht.com/> www.iht.com ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
