by ameinfo.com — Earlier this week, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri announced that he will be temporarily shutting down his family-owned TV station, Future TV, after being on air for 26 years. “It is with great regret I announce today a decision to suspend the work of Future TV and payment of dues to the channel’s employees. This is due to the same financial reasons that led to the closure of the newspaper Al-Mustaqbal,” said Hariri in a statement. Hariri explained that it is essential that “the people of Future TV, all the Lebanese public, and the Arab brothers know that the channel will not be shut down and the decision is not to suspend its work permanently and turn it into a part of the past. The channel is rather announcing the end of a period of its journey to be able to address the accumulated financial burdens.”

According to Middle East Monitor, “Future TV employees have been on strike since early August over unpaid wages, a crisis that has continued for years but has aggravated in recent months.” AMEinfo also heard of this first-hand from a disgruntled employee working for the station. He is one of about 300 employees and freelancers working for the troubled station.