( CNN ) -- American officials have condemned plans by the Ethiopian prime minister to block U.S.-funded Voice of America broadcasts in Amharic , the main local language . Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused the media organization of `` engaging in destabilizing propaganda , '' according to the Committee to Protect Journalists . Zenawi said Thursday that he would allow efforts to jam the network 's broadcasts , according to the press freedom advocacy group . He compared the VOA to a Rwandan radio station accused of stoking the 1994 genocide that killed about 800,000 people . A U.S. State Department spokesman condemned the accusation . `` Comparing a respected and professional news service to a group that called for genocide in Rwanda is a baseless and inflammatory accusation that seeks only to deflect attention away from the core issue , '' spokesman Gordon Duguid said . The Ethiopian government may disagree with VOA news , but interfering with its broadcasts undermines the nation 's constitutional commitment to censorship and freedom of expression , he added . `` This right shall include freedom to seek , receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds , regardless of frontiers , '' Duguid said . VOA said its Amharic language listeners have experienced interference since February . Its other broadcasts in the Horn of Africa nation have not been affected . The U.S. government funds the media service , which broadcasts news and other programming in different languages worldwide . Press freedom advocacy groups have said Ethiopia is trying to limit media coverage leading up to the May elections , an accusation the government denies .
U.S. wants to jam VOA broadcasts for service 's `` destabilizing propaganda '' Rwandan PM compared VOA to Ethiopian radio station blamed for sparking genocide . Ethiopia calls country 's accusations `` baseless and inflammatory ''