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A US businessman has been arrested for providing satellite broadcasts of a Hezbollah television station to New York-area customers.
Javed Iqbal, 42, originally of Pakistan, was arrested on conspiracy charges of enabling the broadcasts of Al Manar – a Hezbollah TV station the US government calls a ‘terrorist’ entity’.
Al Manar TV, which was launched in 1991 shows statements from Hezbollah and features the group in its news programmes.
US Attorney Michael Garcia said Iqbal used satellite dishes at his Staten Island home to distribute the broadcasts through a Brooklyn company called HDTV Limited.
One of Iqbal’s lawyers Mustapha Ndanusa, said the accusations were "completely ridiculous" and pointed out he knew of no other circumstance in which someone was accused of violating US laws by enabling people to obtain news outlets with a satellite dish.
"It's like the government of Iran saying we are going to ban the New York Times because we think of it as a terrorist outfit, or China saying we will ban CNN," a spokesman for the law firm representing Mr Iqbal told the Reuters news agency.
"America would be hopping up and down crying freedom of speech and freedom of the press," the spokesman said.
Iqbal, a US resident for 24 years, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutor Stephen A. Miller has suggested more charges are imminent. "The charge lurking in the background is material support for terrorism," he said.
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