WASHINGTON – The Bush administration moved yesterday to freeze the assets of several Lebanese media outlets, alleging that they helped raised money and recruits for Hezbollah’s terrorist network.

The Treasury Department’s action is against al Manar, a satellite TV operator, al Nour Radio and their parent company, the Lebanese Media Group.

Any assets found in America belonging to these three outlets will be frozen and Americans are forbidden from doing business with them.

The department alleges that al Manar and al Nour Radio are the “media arms” of Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based group that America has designated as a terrorist organization.

“Al Manar and al Nour have supported fund-raising and recruitment efforts by Hezbollah,” the department said in a release. “Al Manar raised funds for Hezbollah through advertisements broadcast on the network and an accompanying website that requested donations for the terrorist organization.”

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also allegedly used al Manar and al Nour Radio to publicize an invitation for Lebanese citizens to volunteer for Hezbollah military training, the department said.

“Any entity maintained by a terrorist group – whether masquerading as a charity, a business or a media outlet – is as culpable as the terrorist group itself,” said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Al Manar also has provided support to other terrorist groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the department alleged.

The department said Nasrallah, along with Hezbollah’s executive council, managed and oversaw the budgets of al Manar and al Nour. Moreover, prominent Hezbollah members have been major shareholders in the Lebanese Media Group, the department alleged.