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Wiesenthal Centre Knocks Al-Manar Hizbollah Television off Latin American and Asian Airwaves

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Affairs, Dr Shimon Samuels, last month protested to French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, against the continued satellite relays of Al-Manar Hizbollah terrorist television by a France Telecom affiliate.

After a lengthy campaign by the Wiesenthal Centre, the Higher Audiovisual Council of France had, last year, banned such broadcasts to Europe via the French Eutelsat, due to Al-Manar's praise of suicide terrorism and incitement to antisemitism.

The France Telecom affiliate Globecast, however, continued these broadcasts via Hispasat to Latin America, and via Asiasat to the Far East.

Pierre-Antoine Badoz, France Telecom's Director for Public Affairs, today advised the Wiesenthal Centre's Paris office that all Al-Manar relays have been definitively ended to all parts of the globe, including Europe and now also Latin America and Asia.

Samuels noted with satisfaction the importance of the prestige of more than 400,000 members of the Wiesenthal Centre in this campaign.

"Blocking the pernicious glorification of Jihad and hate from the airwaves undoubtedly limits terrorist recruitment and saves the lives of potential victims. We will continue to monitor any attempt to renew these broadcasts," concluded Samuels.

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 609770158.

Visit our new web site at http://www.wiesenthal-europe.com