19 December 2004	Sunday	06 Ziqa'ad 1425

BEIRUT, Dec 18: Lebanon warned on Saturday that it was considering reprisals against French and US media after the pro-Hezbollah television station Al Manar was declared a "terrorist organization" by Washington and its broadcasts on two satellites halted.

"At the recommendation of parliamentary foreign affairs committee, we are studying the possibility of taking retaliatory measures against the US and French media," Information Minister Elie Ferzli said.

"This is an attempt to shut all voices that oppose Israel and describe it as a terrorist state."

His comments were echoed by Lebanon's ambassador to the United States, Farid Abbud, who charged that Washington was "seeking to liquidate a media by accusing it of being the voice of Satan".

"It is unacceptable to censor a media just because it defends positions in which it believes by taking a stand in the Arab-Israeli conflict," Mr Abbud told the Lebanese media.

On Friday French-owned satellite carrier GlobeCast removed Al Manar from the US airwaves after Washington announced the terrorist listing of the broadcaster.

"The channel is no longer present on the satellite," GlobeCast's New York spokesman, Robert Marking, said, declining to say why. Earlier, the State Department announced that it had added Al Manar to its list of suspected terrorist organizations that face sanctions.

"The fact is that Hezbollah is an active terrorist organization," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.-AFP