News Brief

A U.S. lawmaker called for the dismissal of the head of a U.S.-run Arabic-language television station. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), one of Alhurra’s toughest critics, called Tuesday for the immediate firing of station director Larry Register, who has allowed the station to broadcast live interviews with terrorist leaders. “When asked about his numerous decisions to give terrorists an open microphone, Register said that in order for Alhurra to have credibility in the Arab world, it has to air anti-American and anti-Israeli viewpoints,” Rothman, who last month introduced a proposal to force greater accountability from the station, wrote in a release. “His response demonstrated to me that Mr. Register does not understand the purpose of Alhurra. The oppressed people of the Arab world are not tuning into Alhurra to hear the same hate-mongers that they can hear on Al-Jazeera or any other station in the Middle East. They tune into Alhurra to learn about the United States and hear our perspectives.” This followed a column in The Wall Street Journal claiming that Alhurra coverage of Iran’s Holocaust-denial conference in December “took at face value” claims by organizers that they merely sought “proof” that the Holocaust occurred, according to an opinion piece Tuesday by Joel Mowbray. Holocaust denial was broadcast unchallenged, Mowbray said, while a reporter referred to those who uphold the accuracy of the Holocaust as “Holocaust supporters.” Alhurra did not reply to a JTA request for a reply. An earlier article by Mowbray alleging that Alhurra allows terrorist leaders to speak unchallenged generated tough congressional criticism of the channel. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the station at the time, saying its news coverage would not be credible if it did not include the comments of leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups.