Arab star's TV show pulled for Syria views

The Saudi media group MBC has blocked the transmission of a game show because of the overtly pro-Syrian regime views of its Lebanese star presenter, Georges Kordahi.

In a statement received by AFP on Sunday, the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corporation said it had "taken this decision through respect for the feelings of the Syrian people."

The Arabic-language version of the US show "You Deserve It" was to have been broadcast from September 10, and episodes had already been recorded.

Kordahi, one of the best known television presenters in the Arab world, had previously presented the Arabic-language version of the worldwide hit game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

The Internet site of the Al-Arabiya satellite channel, which belongs to the MBC group, said Kordahi had been targeted by social networks and in Arab media for his remarks on the pro-government Dunia channel and on pro-Syrian Lebanese stations.

In July, he had said that the wave of protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad was "a foreign conspiracy" and that the "Arab Spring" had "sown chaos across the Arab world," the Al-Arabiya site said.

Kordahi's name had been placed on the "list of shame" on the Internet of actors and media personalities who support despotic Arab regimes.

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