The Yemeni government appears to have succeeded in blocking – at least temporarily – the launch of a new satellite TV channel linked to the opposition.

Suhail TV had been due to start broadcasts aimed at Yemenis from the beginning of Ramadan, but has not done so.According to the Yemen Observer the authorities in Kuwait have banned it and NewsYemen quoted an unnamed government official as saying: "We welcome this positive decision by the Kuwaiti authorities as Suhail TV's programmes incite sedition in the country."

A Yemeni official had earlier warned that allowing the channel to operate from Kuwait would adversely affect relations between the two countries.

Kuwait denies banning it and says the station has not applied for a licence or been granted one. Suhail has done test transmissions from Kuwait, but is now said to be relocating to “a western country”.

Yemen has no non-governmental TV channels, though satellite channels from abroad are widely watched. The government regards Suhail as a mouthpiece for the opposition Islah party.

On its website, Suhail talks about “establishing the values of freedom, justice, democracy and a culture of tolerance, dialogue and moderation”, though it clearly has a religious emphasis. The website says the channel is owned by Sheba Media Limited (registered in the UK), which is in turn owned by “a group of Yemeni investors” with Hamdan al-Ahmar prominent among them.

Hamdan is a son of the late Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar who was leader of the Islah party, speaker of the parliament and the most senior tribal figure in Yemen.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 31 August 2009.