"It is not easy. It is a highly complex and highly encrypted system. Who will intercept and how?" asked Thuraya chairman Mohammed Omran.

Omran conceded that Thuraya's location finding system was "very accurate, but it would be very difficult for anyone to intercept the signals."

"Thuraya's services are designed not for military purposes, they are for civilian and commercial use," he added.

Some journalists accompanying US troops inside Iraq have been asked to hand over satellite telephones operated by Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya in order to prevent information being communicated unknowingly to Iraqi forces.

US Air Force Major General Victor Renuart said US signal interceptors have sought to use satellite phone transmissions to locate Iraqi army commanders, and some analysts say that civilian phone calls could be used to guide bombs.

Renuart said he did not consider the ban on Thuraya phones, which use the highly accurate geographical positioning technology, as "restricting the ability of the media to cover events."

Thuraya is an autonomous company established in 1997 by the UAE's state-owned Etisalat telecoms monopoly, with more than 15 regional service providers and investment firms in partnership.

The 15 Arab companies include Etisalat (26 percent), Abu Dhabi Investment Company (20 percent), Arabsat (10 percent) and Q-Tel of Qatar (10 percent).

Thuraya has service provider agreements with more than 50 countries, but not with Iraq, Omran added.

Since the US-led war was launched on March 20, the daily length of call times on Thuraya phones in Iraq has risen to 17,000 minutes from 15,000, he said.

SPACE.WIRE