A Lebanese flag flying over the Grand Serail in Beirut. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
Less than a week after approval was given by the National Audiovisual Council (NAC), the project to launch a new TV channel in Lebanon has fallen through. The withdrawal of the project's promoter, Emirati businessman Khalaf al-Habtoor, was made official on Tuesday in a press release from the al-Habtoor group, which stated “security challenges facing the project.”
“It is with great regret that we cancel our plans to launch a new TV channel in Lebanon, which was to broadcast cultural, social and sports programs aimed at spreading positivity and hope among people,” the announcement said. The businessman denounced “systematic defamation campaigns” and “threats” made against him and his future associates. In response, he filed several criminal and civil complaints in Lebanon and abroad. “This decision is due to the security challenges the project has faced, including physical threats, making its continuation in Lebanon impossible.”
'Threats' and an 'absence of stability'
The group's founder and chairman also pointed to a pervasive “absence of stability [in Lebanon] necessary for any investment." As a result, Habtoor said that he is already working on “an alternative” channel in another country in the region. “The group is studying options to launch the channel from other countries which offer a more stable, secure and favorable environment for this type of initiative,” he said, thanking “all those who have sought to support the realization of the project," especially the caretaker Lebanese information minister, Ziad Makari.
Last week, Makari responded to the concerns expressed by Habtoor on X, who made a post questioning the slowness of the licensing process for his future channel and raising the possibility of “withdrawing from the investment.”
“We are committed to keeping our promise to grant you the required licenses,” assured the minister, referring to a May 15 correspondence from the Grand Serail, and making his intention of raising the issue to the government known.
According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), NNA Chairman Abdel Hadi Mahfouz sent a letter to the government, at Makari's request, in which Mahfouz declared himself “favorable” to granting a license under Najib Mikati's caretaker government based on Law 531/96 on satellite broadcasting.
Habtoor made his initiative public last April. Among other things, he promised that the launch of this new channel, intended to be based in Beirut, had “the potential to create around 300 jobs initially, with prospects for additional jobs as the company expands.” He hoped this would strengthen “the country's attractiveness as a hub for international filmmakers in Lebanon.”
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.