BEIRUT - Shiite party Hezbollah slammed on Friday two Arab satellite providers for dropping a popular television channel from Iran as a "violation of freedom of speech and opinion."
"Hezbollah condemns Arabsat and Nilesat's decision to stop broadcasting the channel Al-Alam, a decision made on political grounds," the party said in a statement about the Arabic-language channel.
"Hezbollah declares its solidarity with the channel and considers this a violation of freedom of speech and opinion," the statement said.
Arabsat and Egyptian Nilesat this week stopped broadcasting Al-Alam on the grounds it was in breach of contract, the press reported.
But Al-Alam's Beirut bureau chief, Atef Moussawi, said the decision was as punishment for the channel supporting Hezbollah.
"Al-Alam is paying the price for its support of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine," Moussawi said in a television interview.
US-backed Arab dictators are unhappy with their populations' increasing sympathy to democratic resistance movements like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Churches urge 'resistance' to Israeli settlements