RIYADH, 3 July — An SR600 million English-language Arab satellite TV station will be launched from London soon to help clear misconceptions about Arabs and Muslims after the Sept.11 attacks.
Prince Mansour ibn Naser, a Saudi businessman, told Al-Watan Arabic daily that the station, ATV, would be on the air "after finalizing some necessary procedures." He said feasibility studies had been completed, but did not give a specific launch date.
The station has received funds from some charities and loans from international banks, the prince said. In the first phase, the station will broadcast in English mainly to viewers in Europe, the United States and Canada. It will broadcast in German, French, Spanish and Italian at a later stage, he added.
"The station will monitor the misconceptions and distortions broadcast by enemy stations" against Arabs and Muslims and try to refute them, Prince Mansour said. "The non-profit station will be the voice of Arabs and Muslims in the West. It will rely on sponsorships and advertisements for Arab and Islamic products," he said.
"It will help improve the image of Muslims in the West, which was damaged" and linked to terror following the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, Prince Mansour said.
The station was also designed to help attract foreign investments to the Arab and Islamic worlds by highlighting investment opportunities and explaining investment laws in force in Arab and Muslim countries.
"ATV will help repatriate Arab funds worth $800 billion invested abroad," he said, adding that the repatriation of funds would lead to strengthening Arab economies and creating new job opportunities for Arabs.
The television will interview prominent businessmen in the West to know the obstacles they face for investments in Arab and Islamic countries, he said.
"This will help Arab decision-makers to adopt appropriate resolutions to soften regulations and facilitate procedures to attract more investments," he added.
The new TV also aims at promoting products manufactured in Arab and Islamic countries, and encouraging tourism to Arab and Muslim destinations.
"Ours will be a balanced channel focusing on truthful viewpoints that would help correct misconceptions about Arabs and Muslims among the Westerners," the prince said.
Another objective is to promote products of Arab and Islamic countries in the West. "At present our products are rarely marketed in the West".
Prince Mansour described the new TV station as the dream of millions of Arabs and Muslims.
"They have been waiting so long for such a channel that would serve Arab and Islamic causes at political and economic levels and highlight Arab and Islamic views," he pointed out.
