BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The director of Hezbollah’s satellite TV station says a German ban on the network violates international laws protecting media freedom.

Al-Manar TV Director Abdullah Kassir asserts the German government acted on a request from what he called "Zionist lobbies" in Europe in deciding to ban broadcasts of the Arabic language network.

Hezbollah has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s and is a powerful political force in Lebanon.

Germany banned Hezbollah’s television station Friday on grounds that it violates the country’s constitution.

The ban prevents German satellite television companies from offering the channel.