Washington: Qatar-based news network 'al-Jazeera' is facing legal tangles over getting a sublease in a building where it wants to set up a new office.

According to the landlord, granting of the lease would attract political demonstrations that would, in turn, have an adverse effect on the rest of the building.

'Washington Post' reported on June 9 that the TV network intends to sublease 17,000 square feet of studio space from a television production company in a K Street office building. But Cafritz Co, the landlord, denied permission describing 'al-Jazeera' as a "potential target" of people in the US.

The report said 'al-Jazeera' had drawn huge criticism in the US for showing video of American prisoner's of wars during the recent Gulf war.

The Americans also believe that the news channel has "sympathy" for Saddam Hussein, the deposed President of Iraq.

After the landlord denied the permission, Conus Communications Co, which is for subletting space to 'al- Jazeera', sued Cafritz in May, seeking an injunction to pave the way for sublet.

Conus says the landlord "cannot unreasonably refuse" a sublease so long as it meets several conditions. According to the company, 'al-Jazeera' fulfils all the conditions. Company president Terry O'Reilly was quoted as saying that it was "outrageous" to see that permission was denied to 'al-Jazeera' merely on the grounds of ethnicity and disagreement with its point of view.

According to the report, the case is about a dispute over language in the lease agreement between Conus and the landlord.

But broadly it's about the ability, or lack of it, of politically unpopular groups to maintain a presence in the seats of world power.

For the past four years 'al-Jazeera' has had an office in the National Press Building on 14th Street NW. The TV network's Washington bureau chief Hafez M Osman reportedly stated that Washington authorities were hampering basic services like telephone and Internet to them, and as a result its business was severely disrupted.

ANI