HIZBALLAH MP APPEALS FRENCH AL-MANAR BAN; MEETS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 006933

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER FR LE
SUBJECT: HIZBALLAH MP APPEALS FRENCH AL-MANAR BAN; MEETS
WITH MFA

REF: 04 PARIS 8944

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS
ONS 1.4 B/D


1. (C) Summary: In the coming weeks, the Conseil d'Etat,
France's highest administrative court, will release a
decision on Hizballah satellite television station al-Manar's
appeal of its 2004 ban from broadcasting into France. Two
Lebanese deputies, Hassan Fadlalah of Hizballah and Abdallah
Farhat, visited Paris October 6 to lobby the Conseil
Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA),France's FCC-equivalent,
for the reinstatement of al-Manar's broadcast license. The
two MP's were also received at the MFA and by French
parliamentarians. A contact from the CSA told Poloff October
6 that Lebanese media are rife with rumors that a political
deal has been cut with the GOF allowing al-Manar back on the
air in France. She dismissed these rumors, saying those that
spread them did not understand the separation of powers
between the executive and legislative branches. End summary.


2. (C) Poloff spoke October 6 with Isabel Mariani,
International Affairs director at the CSA. Mariani confirmed
that al-Manar programming on Nilesat and Arabsat (based out
of Egypt and Saudia Arabia, respectively) have no presence in
Europe. She said it was possible that people with satellites
in Europe's outlying areas, such as Malta or Corsica, could
get feeds that were being transmitted to North African
countries, but it was technically impossible for someone
living in hexagonal France to receive Nilesat or Arabsat
signals. Mariani added that a Dutch satellite company had
been transmitting al-Manar earlier in 2005, but it had
stopped doing so, which meant that al-Manar is at the moment
excluded from broadcasting in Europe, at least via satellite.


3. (C) Mariani confirmed that the Conseil d'Etat is expected
to rule on an al-Manar appeal within the coming weeks. She
would not speculate on how the Conseil d'Etat might rule, but
did say that the CSA believes it followed all procedures for
banning al-Manar (reftel). To win the appeal, al-Manar would
have to demonstrate it was complying with France's
broadcasting code of conduct, said Mariani, and she did not
believe the Hizballah satellite television station had done
so. Mariani asked what Poloff knew about the latest al-Manar
developments, and said that Lebanon is filled with rumors
that the Conseil d'Etat will allow the station back on the
air because of Lebanese government political pressure on the
GOF. Mariani said she believed there was nothing to this,
and those passing rumors did not understand France's
separation of powers. Mariani's interest in political rumors
in Lebanon became clear on October 7, with an AFP report on
the official visit to Paris of two Lebanese deputies, Hassan
Fadlalah of Hizballah and Abdallah Farhat, to lobby for
al-Manar. Fadlalah had meetings with CSA president Dominique
Baudis, as well as French officials at the MFA, the Ministry
of Culture, the National Assembly and the Senate. He
emphasized al-Manar's "willingness" to "work within French
law."


4. (C) MFA Lebanon/Syria desk officer Remy Bouallegue
confirmed that Fadlalah and another, non-Hizballah Lebanese
MP were received at the MFA October 6 at the DAS-equivalent
level, but downplayed the significance of the meeting.
Bouallegue said the purpose of the MPs' visit to Paris was
principally to meet with CSA President Baudis and, to a
lesser degree, meet with French parliamentarians. He
described the MFA meeting as largely a formality, and
standard practice when Lebanese parliamentary delegations
come to France. He could not confirm whether other Hizballah
MP's had ever been received at the MFA. The two MP's also
met with French Ministry of Culture officials.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
STAPLETON