Germany’s Interior Ministry has banned Hezbollah’s television station on grounds that it violates the country’s constitution, a spokesman said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Beyer said Al-Manar television programming was forbidden under Article 9 of Germany’s constitution, which says that organizations cannot operate with the purpose of violating “international understanding.”
Beyer was not more specific on why the ban was instituted, but Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television is known to be staunchly anti-Israel and frequently broadcasts footage of Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s, has broad support among Lebanon’s Shiite population. Israel and the U.S. consider it a terrorist organization and accuse it of being behind deadly attacks in Lebanon and abroad.
The U.S. has also banned Al-Manar.
Source: The Associated Press
