US embassy cable - 05PARIS6933

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