U.S. authorities brought terrorism charges against two men for providing
satellite broadcasts of Hezbollah television channel al-Manar to U.S. customers,
according to an indictment unsealed on Monday.
Saleh Elahwal, 53, and
Javed Iqbal, 42, were charged with providing material support to al-Manar --
branded by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization in March -- the
indictment said. Each faces a maximum of 110 years in prison if convicted of all
11 counts.
Both men pleaded not guilty during a hearing in Manhattan
federal court. Elahwal was released on $400,000 bail, while Iqbal was released
on $250,000 bail.
Lawyers for both men did not comment. The men are due
to appear again on January 8.
The U.S. Treasury Department froze the
U.S. assets of al-Manar in March, saying it supported the fund-raising and
recruitment activities of Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group backed by Syria and
Iran.
Iqbal, a Pakistani who moved to the United States 24 years ago and
lives in New York, was arrested and first charged in August with providing
satellite customers with the Hezbollah-operated channel.
According to
the new charges, between September 2005 and August 2006, the two men used the
television company they own, Brooklyn-based HDTV Ltd., to negotiate with
representatives of the al-Manar network to air the channel, according to the
indictment.
Court documents said Elahwal, who lives in New Jersey, and
Iqbal were paid by al-Manar more than $111,000 between December and March.
The channel provided wide coverage of the war between Hezbollah and
Israel last summer, broadcasting exclusive footage shot by Hezbollah guerillas.
It was attacked by Israeli airstrikes during the fighting.
Reuters/VNU
I would have to wonder why, IS our Gov't Afraid that we might see something they don't want us to see. I personal watch BBC News, then show and tell more then our own news companies over here. It's about time to end this, we need to pull our men and women out and let them deal with their own problem, basically if we leave it would become a civil war... And if they want to kill each other then let them..
In today's World, if we (the US) were in a civil war do you think any of these countries would send any of their men to help us. I don't think so.. We as a Nation need to take care of our home before trying to take care of some other countries homes. Our People should be first.
What about our sick, our homeless and our poor. We can Spend 80+ billions over seas but we can't get a health care bill past over here. We can't get our poor Vets the medical and housing they need. We can't feed our hungry.
I sick and tried see the USA as the Police, Bank, Food Bank of the world. Each nation need to take care of there own..
Those whom don't know their history is doom to repeat it...
