Al-Manar Director-General Abdallah Qasir resigned from his post as head of the Hezbollah-affiliated television station, media reports said.
The resignation comes in the wake of a recent controversy over a public apology by the Lebanese Communication Group that includes Al-Manar television channel and Al-Nour radio station for their coverage of the Bahraini anti-government protests, an apology that was disavowed by Hezbollah.
When contacted by The Daily Star, Al-Manar television and Hezbollah declined to comment on the resignation.
Al-Manar accepted Qasir's resignation Wednesday a week after the former MP of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc submitted it, LCBI said.
As Safir said Qasir left for Iran after the resignation was approved.
Al-Wasat Bahraini daily said in a report published Thursday that the resignation was linked to the apology and the controversy surrounding it.
During a meeting of the Arab States Broadcasting Union in Tunis earlier this month, Hezbollah’s media arm, Al-Manar, has publicly apologized for its coverage of the anti-government protests in Bahrain.
Hezbollah responded by saying it was not responsible for the apology and reaffirmed its support for the people of Bahrain, noting it would later decide the fate of the Al-Manar delegation which issued the apology to Bahrain.
Hezbollah has been an outspoken critic of Bahrain’s policy in crushing the demonstrations that began in mid-2011 against the Sunni-ruled oligarchy, some of which have turned violent as a result of clashes between protesters and the police.
Powers in the Gulf state have long accused the party of interfering in its internal affairs.
