Al Manar wants French row settled in court

Hezbollah's television channel said on Wednesday that its dispute with French broadcasting authorities over anti-Israel comment should be handled in court rather than in any political arena.

The French authorities, the CSA, said on Tuesday they would seek to penalise Al Manar TV, the channel of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, over a December 2 broadcast in French that accused Israel of crimes against humanity.

The CSA wrote to the Lebanese Communication Group, which airs Al Manar, indicating that such comments could violate French law banning hate speech.

"Israel has never been declared guilty of crimes against humanity before an international criminal court," the CSA said.

A spokesman for Al Manar, Ebrahim Farhat, said that the channel did not use the words in question with bad intention.

"The person who wrote the report about crimes against humanity relied on a verse from the Holy Quran that says killing one soul unjustly is like killing all people," Farhat said.

"The report was written that way, and the person who wrote it did not check the meaning of crimes against humanity in the Geneva Conventions."

Farhat said Al Manar had been asked to reply to the CSA by December 17. "We want (a court of) justice to take the decision and that the matter is not politicised, because the Jewish lobby in France and the Israeli government are taking it as a political matter," he said.

It was not the first time that Al Manar shows have drawn the scorn of French authorities. Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin said earlier this month its programming was "incompatible" with French values.

In a November 23 programme, Al Manar broadcast an expert who accused Zionists of spreading Aids to the Arab world.

Days later, the CSA called on Al Manar to respect French law and the contract it signed allowing the channel to be broadcast throughout France.