The French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, has joined those calling for the Hezbollah TV channel 'Al-Manar' to be taken off air, after it had allegedly accused Israel of exporting AIDS to the Middle East. Al-Manar was authorized to broadcast by satellite inside the European Union only two weeks ago after it signed an agreement with France's Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) not to incite hatred or violence. Addressing the French Senate, Raffarin said "Al-Manar's programs are incompatible with our values. It is clear they will lead to the termination of the contract between the CSA and Al-Manar". He also said that the Al-Manar issue would be brought up at the meeting of European heads of government later this month, noting that "We need to bring a European response to this propaganda of hate".
Speaking in Beirut the TV channel's Head of News Hassan Fadlallah said "We were astonished to hear the French prime minister saying that Al-Manar's programs do not fit with French values, which we reject. Our programs are based on cultural, Islamic and Arab values that a billion people believe in, and it fits with some French values like freedom, justice and human rights"
