'ArabSat & NileSat End Al-'Alam Link.

The Middle East's two main satellite operators on Nov. 4 dropped al-Alam, controlled by a unit of Iran's ruling IRGC, which later said the decision was politically motivated. Al-'Alam, critical of Sunni Arab states and accused of frequently broadcasting "fabricated stories", said the decision was an attempt to stifle Iran's Arabic voice in the region. The station is carried by the Saudi-hosted ArabSat and the Egyptian-owned NileSat and reaches millions of Arabic-speaking viewers in over 100 countries.

Egypt's state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) said the decision was because of contractual violations, without elaborating. A senior executive with ArabSat told the London-based and Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat that the action was not influenced by any political decision and that it was purely a contractual disagreement between the two sides.

Gulf News on Nov. 6 quoted ArabSat's operations official Samuel Habashi as confirming the station was off the air. Atef al-Moussawi, head of al-Alam's bureau in Beirut and known locally to be an agent of the IRGC and Hizbullah, said his station was seeking explanations from officials at both ArabSat and NileSat, and said the decision muzzled freedom of expression. He said an Egyptian official had told them the decision came from "higher authorities" without explanation, adding: "We understand it is a political decision. Is the Arab world now only able to face Iran by shutting down a station? Iran is not only strong with its media".

A high-ranking Saudi official was on Nov. 7 quoted as saying al-'Alam was directed by IRGC's political section and intelligence network. Like Hizbullah's al-Manar TV, al-Alam is often accused by GCC officials of spreading potentially-explosive and anti-Arab mis-information. The Saudi official said al-'Alam frequently interviewed Arab "analysts" who "in reality were agents of the Iranian intelligence and the IRGC".

Moussawi said al-Alam was still being broadcast through four other operators, who cover mainly Europe, the US and Asia. But ArabSat and NileSat also provide vital cover of African and Latin American countries in which members of the Lebanese, Iraqi and other countries' Shi'ite communities are important sources of funding for Hizbullah and the Quds Force, the external arm of the IRGC. These sources have become increasingly important in view of a money war being waged quietly between Iran and the cash-rich GCC states.