NEW YORK, May 29: Two men, one Pakistani one Arab, accused of agreeing to broadcast the Hizbullah television channel Al Manara to the US audience are scheduled to face terrorism charges in January 2009, US Federal Court Judge in New York ruled on Wednesday.

Judge Richard Berman set Jan 5, as the trial date for Javed Iqbal, and Saleh Elahwal, in what defence lawyers said was one of the unusual terrorism cases moving through US courts, says a news report.

Iqbal was arrested and initially charged in August 2006 on allegations he negotiated on behalf of his Brooklyn-based company HDTV Ltd with representatives of the Beirut-based al-Manar network to air the channel in America.

According to court papers, Iqbal, a Pakistani who moved to the United States more than 25 years ago, and Elahwal, who lives in New Jersey and who prosecutors say also operated HDTV, were indicted three months later. Initial court documents said they were paid more than $111,000 by Al Manar between December 2005 and March 2006.

Both men have been released on bail after pleading not guilty to 11 charges, including providing satellite services to Al Manar, providing support to Hezbollah and violating the United Nations Participation Act of 1945. If convicted on all the charges, they each face a combined maximum of more than 100 years in prison.

Attorneys say the case of Javed Iqbal, who was arrested on Aug 23 on conspiracy charges, is unusual because the charges stem from the distribution of news.

US Attorney has charged that Iqbal, from Staten Island, conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that bars direct financial aid to terrorist groups and the sales of products or services that could help such groups.

Some civil liberties advocates told Dawn that the prosecution appears to ignore exemptions in the law that cover distribution of news media — including wire feeds, tapes and photographs.