Alwaght- Nilesat, Egyptian satellite provider, informed the Lebanese Ministry of Communications that it will stopped carrying the Hezbollah-run Al-Manar news channel to its subscribers starting from 08:00 a.m. Cairo time on Tuesday.
Justifying the decision, Nilesat Managing Board claimed that the Al-Manar TV violated the agreement signed between both parties and broadcast programs which provoke sectarian strife and sedition.
It also sent another statement to inform the Ministry of Communications it will stop the broadcast from Jouret Al-Ballout transmitter station starting from Wednesday 10:00 a.m. due to the expiry of the contract signed with the Lebanese Republic in 2015.
Late on last November, In a similar development Saudi-based satellite provider Arabsat informed Lebanon officially that it stopped airing the Arabsat - Global Arabic Bouquet - from the Lebanese platform in Jouret Al-Ballout station, under the pretext of "the small number of contracting channels which currently broadcast on Arabsat bouquet transmitted from Jouret Al-Ballout."
Al-Manar TV rejected all the accusations and submitted papers and contracts that proved the false claims, stressing that regional politics were behind such unfair steps just to satisfy the Al-Saud dynasty.
According to sources of the Ministry of Communications, the Lebanese state had invested in Jouret Al-Ballout station about $ 10 million, hoping to benefit from this investment.
Considering Egypt as a Saudi-Backed government, the move appears to be in line with recent Gulf measures to punish Lebanon and Hezbollah over policies that have angered Riyadh.
