NEW YORK (Reuters) - A second New York City man pleaded guilty Tuesday to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization by broadcasting Hezbollah television channel Al Manar to U.S. customers, prosecutors said.Saleh Elahwal, who lives in New Jersey, admitted that between about September 2005 and August 2006 he provided satellite transmission services through Brooklyn-based HDTV Ltd to Al Manar, in exchange for thousands of dollars payment.
His co-defendant Javed Iqbal, a Pakistani who moved to the United States more than 25 years ago, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Dec. 23.Hezbollah, an Iranian- and Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group with a powerful guerrilla army, was designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization in 1997.The U.S. Treasury branded Al Manar a terrorist organization in March 2006, saying it supported Hezbollah's fund-raising and recruitment activities.
Elahwal is due to be sentenced on Feb. 19 and Iqbal on March 24. Both face up to 15 years in prison. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Vicki Allen)
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