French broadcast regulators announced Tuesday they were seeking to pull a television station linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah off the satellite beaming its programmes within the European Union because of licence violations.

The High Audiovisual Council (CSA) said it would ask France's superior administrative court to order the Eutelsat satellite company "to cease transmitting the station".

The decision, which aims to cancel the licence the CSA gave to the Al-Manar station less than two weeks ago, came after several "serious defaults regarding the contractual agreements" the channel is subject to.

Most notably, on November 23, the station showed a person speaking during a regular press roundup programme on Al-Manar who made comments that "were of a nature to disturb public order and to attack the fundamental principles of audiovisual law which prohibit any incitation to hatred or violence," the CSA said in a statement.

Al-Manar was granted its licence on November 19 despite appeals by Jewish groups claiming it put out anti-Semitic content, although the CSA stressed the station would be held to the highest standards.

The head of the station, Mohammed Haidar, said last week the aim of Al-Manar was to support the Palestinian cause, and it had always distinguished between Israel's policies as a state and the Jewish religion.

"We are ready to respect French law and will submit to it," Mohammed Haidar told Le Figaro newspaper, adding that previous programming perpetuating false accounts about Jewish history were a "mistake".

Haidar denied that Al-Manar was owned by Hezbollah but acknowledged that it defended Hezbollah's activities and views, notably with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In Beirut, Al-Manar issued a statement saying it was "astonished" to have learned through the media of the CSA's plans rather than be informed directly ahead of time and suggested the move was due to political pressure. It said it "deplores the haste" with which the CSA acted and it called on the agency to respect its commitments under the accord and "not bow to political pressures brought to bear on it".

It said it "deplores the haste" with which the CSA acted and it called on the agency to respect its commitments under the accord and "not bow to political pressures brought to bear on it".

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States.

In Europe, however, some governments make a distinction between its political party, which has a dozen members in the Lebanese parliament, and its military wing, responsible for deadly attacks against Israel.

Al-Manar (The Lighthouse in Arabic) first began broadcasting in 1991. Four years ago it moved to satellite, with programming 24 hours a day. It now broadcasts in Arabic, French and English.

Its progamming focuses on the Palestinian struggle for statehood, and the station regularly praises anti-Israeli suicide attacks carried out by the Palestinian radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

More recently it has moved toward attracting a wider audience, and has introduced game shows and sports coverage.