Unable to shut Manar TV voice Hamadeh wants it included in UN report

Source: Daily Star, 29-12-2006
BEIRUT: Hizbullah accused Lebanon`s telecommunications minister of inciting hatred against the group, a day after the government official made the same accusation against them. Marwan Hamadeh accused Hizbullah on Thursday of "inciting" his assassination after Al-Manar, the party`s television channel, accused him of revealing the whereabouts of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to a US official during the July-August war with "Israel".
Hizbullah and Al-Manar TV fired back at Hamadeh, accusing him of "inciting violence" against Hizbullah.
"[Hamadeh`s] reaction was uncalled for and not objective," said Mohammad Afif, the manager of Al-Manar TV, who said the news report by his station was objective and had covered all sides.
Addressing Hamadeh, Afif said: "Go ahead. If you want to send in the report to the Information Ministry, we are ready to do the same."
Hamadeh had said that he had contacted Information Minister Ghazi Aridi, and had asked lawyers to file an official complaint against what he called the "Syrian-televised bulletin", (a cliché commonly used by members of the US-backed government to either gag or cause to look guilty opposition voices.)
Hamadeh also said he will be sending a copy of the report to the UN commission investigating the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and Hamadeh`s own assassination attempt, among others.
Afif expressed surprise over Hamadeh`s move to send the TV report to the UN probe, asking: "Are we turning the international court into a tool for settling scores between the government and its opposition now?"
Hamadeh said in a statement released by his office Thursday that "Hizbullah and its leaders are inciting my assassination and are trying to terrorize me politically and psychologically."
Hamadeh said that Al-Manar had accused him, during a news report on Wednesday night, of "revealing" Nasrallah`s location to US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman during the summer war.
"This party, which is working today to destroy Lebanon, covered for those who tried to assassinate me [in 2004]," said Hamadeh. "The car that targeted me was booby-trapped in an area controlled by Hizbullah.!?"
But Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said Hamadeh`s accusations "are dangerous."
"It is almost like he is trying to terrorize the opposition forces and its media stations by the sword of the international tribunal, when he mentions that he will drag us to the international commission," said Hassan.
Hassan accused Hamadeh of "over-reacting" to a report that had been circulating in the media since the summer war.
"The Al-Manar report was an investigative piece that included quotes from the families of those killed in the [Dahiyeh] and figures from the Syrian opposition and also included Hamadeh`s side and his denial of any relation to report," said Hassan.
"We understand [Hamadeh] has gone through a lot with the attempted assassination and so we refrained from reacting to his various accusations and insults against Hizbullah," said Hassan, adding that "this time, we decided not to remain silent."
Hassan also accused MP Walid Jumblatt of "contradicting himself with every statement."
He called on both Hamadeh and Jumblatt, to refrain from what he called "dangerous incitement and accusations."