Hizbollah TV on front line in war with Israel

Beirut, Jul 22: ''One land, one enemy'' booms a voice as an Israeli flag explodes in flames during a video clip on Hizbollah's al-Manar television.

The channel has been on the front line of the guerrilla group's 10-day war with the Jewish state, pumping out Hizbollah news and propaganda but also incurring Israel's wrath.

The Israeli military has turned its five-storey headquarters into rubble in air strikes during the war triggered by Hizbollah's capture of two soldiers in a July 12 raid.

But the strikes only took al-Manar off the air for two minutes, the station's head of public relations said.

''We were prepared in case of war and had an emergency plan,'' Ibrahim Farahat told Reuters.

''Colleagues in all departments, from technical to engineering, were ready in other places. Broadcasting resumed and, God willing, will continue to do so,'' he said, reluctant to give more details.

The United States has labelled al-Manar a terrorist organisation, as it has done to Hizbollah. The European Union last year decided to take the channel off European satellites.

The Israeli military, which has launched daily air strikes on the southern suburb where al-Manar was based, said Hizbollah recruits through the channel. ''Al-Manar is Hizbollah's media outlet that incites against Israel,'' a spokeswoman said.

MEDIA WARFARE

Al-Manar is crucial to Hizbollah as a propaganda tool, even if it less widely watched than other satellite channels such as Qatar-based Al Jazeera, said Mahmoud Tarabay, assistant professor of communications at the Lebanese American University.

''They count on this kind of media warfare when it comes to this type of situation, not just to convey their message but to reach a wider audience,'' he said.

Thirty-four Israeli troops and civilians have died in the war, mostly killed by fighting with Hizbollah guerrillas and rocket attacks into Israel. Israel's bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 340 people, almost all of them civilians.

Al-Manar, like other Lebanese channels, has given plenty of coverage to the aftermath of Israeli air strikes.

It has also broadcast exclusive footage shot by Hizbollah guerrillas fighting Israeli forces, including images of ''spoils of war,'' equipment abandoned by troops in clashes at the border.

Al-Manar programming includes montages of Hizbollah guerrillas crawling through undergrowth and firing rockets and Israeli troops weeping at funerals and being carried from battle on stretchers.

''Al-Manar is a main attraction for the Arab audience because it covers the Arab-Israeli conflict from a different perspective,'' Farahat said.

REUTERS