Law enforcement officials arrested Javed Iqbal, 42, Wednesday morning after a six-month investigation into a small broadcasting company that Mr. Iqbal owns. Mr. Iqbal, a native of Pakistan who is not an American citizen, was charged in U.S. District Court in Manhattan yesterday with conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Mr. Iqbal agreed to sell a satellite television service that could receive al-Manar broadcasts to a government informant who had posed as a customer, court filings unsealed yesterday allege.
In March, the Department of Treasury classified al-Manar, which is controlled by Hezbollah, as a global terrorist entity. The network is based in Beirut and conducts fund-raisers for Hezbollah in addition to broadcasting the terrorist organization's propaganda.
The courts papers suggest there is at least some appetite among New York viewers for the around-the-clock and often anti-Semitic programming. When a government informant sought to buy satellite television service from Mr. Iqbal, the defendant told the informant that 80% of his customers of Lebanese heritage received al-Manar, the court papers allege.
Full story:
http://www.nysun.com/article/38557
Will book burning be next?
Ninth Scribe