Posted on 04/30/2002 3:13:28 PM PDT by knighthawk
BEIRUT -- A Beirut newspaper failed Tuesday to print and distribute across Arab cities the International Herald Tribune to avoid "possible legal action" by the Lebanese government due to a pro-Israeli ad carried by the U.S. daily.
"The *** Daily Star*** has decided that due to possible legal action by the Lebanese government, it will not distribute the International Herald Tribune on Tuesday because of advertising content in the IHT, as published around the world," it said in a front-page announcement.
A source at the ***Daily Star***r told AFP that Tuesday's issue of the ***Tribune*** contained the same pro-Israeli advertisement that the Paris-based daily had printed on April 5, prompting legal action against ***Daily Star*** owner Jamil Mroueh.
Jamil Mroueh owns the English-language ***Daily Star***, which since September has been printing the IHT in Beirut and distributing both papers together in Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
On April 11, Mroueh was indicted for allowing the "publication of a notice which supports Israel in its war against the Palestinians, weakens national sentiment and raises dissension of a racist nature."
He risks a jail term of three to 15 years.
The April 5 quarter-page advertisement was placed by the New York-based anti-defamation league under the headline, "Israel we are with you ... now more than ever."
It was a message of solidarity with Israel's onslaught against the Palestinians.
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