 The head of press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned Wednesday that a U.S. decision to brand Lebanese television station Al-Manar a terrorist organization risked turning it into a military target.| And this would be a bad thing because...? |
 "The American reference sets a dangerous precedent because it risks turning (Al-Manar) into a military target, like Serbian television (attacked by NATO during the Kosovo war in 1999) or Al-Jazeera (Qatar-based news channel) bombarded by the American army in Kabul" during the 2001 Afghan war, said Robert Menard. The U.S. State Department decided in December to label the channel - which is seen as a mouthpiece of the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah - a terrorist organization. The move followed a decision by a French court which forced Paris-based satellite carrier Eutelsat to stop running Al-Manar after ruling that the station had aired programming that contained anti-Jewish views. |