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29 March 2024

MBC apologises for insulting late Muslim Caliph

MBC apologises for insulting late Muslim Caliph. (FILE)

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By Staff

The Saudi-owned MBC satellite television has apologised to Muslims for showing insulting words against a late Muslim Caliph during a cartoon programme targeting children, the Kuwaiti daily Alnaba reported on Sunday.
 
Channel 3 of the Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC) said the offending words were shown among the messages sent by the audience within its “greetings” text service during the programme, the paper said.
 
“MBC said it was an inadvertent mistake and it will not allow it to happen again…the management also said it would take measures against those who are responsible for showing the messages,” Alanba said.
 
It quoted a company official as saying MBC had now stopped the message service following complaints by children relatives that some of them are obscene and insulting against Islam. “Sources close to MBC believe the anti-Islam messages could be sent by non-Muslims,” the paper said.
 
In a report last week, a Saudi newspaper accused MBC channel 3 of showing insulting words against Omar bin Khattab during a cartoon programme.
 
Shams daily coupled its report with a picture and a video copy of the programme showing the phrase “down with Omar bin Khattab".
“Down with Omar bin Khattab. That was what MBC channel 3 broadcast on its screen at 6.05 pm on Friday. We have received many calls demanding the removal of this channel from satellite networks,” the paper said.
 
Omar bin Khattab was one of the closest companions of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and the second Caliph (Muslim leader) after Abu Bakr Al Siddiq following the Prophet’s death more than 14 centuries ago.