BIRDS and Israeli jet fighters stand in the way of a plan for the world's largest short-wave transmission station. The plan, backed by the US and Israel, is to relay Western programmes from the Negev Desert to East and Central Africa, India, Pakistan, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. But critics of the plan say it could interfere with military flights and snare songbirds, storks, eagles and falcons migrating to and from Africa.
The Board for International Broadcasting, a US government organisation that oversees Radio Free Europe, together with the Voice of America, wants to promote 'democratic values, human rights, and peace among nations'. The BIB has drawn up a contract worth $300 million to build the station. The British company Marconi will be among the bidders for the contract.
The relay station would consist of 16 transmitting towers and 37 curtain antennas - vertical wires stretched from suspension cables ...
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