Adnan Awamleh, the general manager of a Jordan-based television production company, still can't shake off his disbelief at a lawsuit filed against his firm recently by a major broadcaster for breach of contract.

The lawsuit, in which the Saudi-owned network MBC is reportedly asking for $20 million in compensation, is set against the backdrop of a controversial Arabic series "The Road to Kabul" which was supposed to air during Ramadan of 2004. 

The 30-episode series, produced by Awamleh's Arab Telemedia Services, was pulled off the air after only a few episodes by its bankroller, Qatar Television, citing technical problems. MBC maintains that was considered breach of contract by ATS because it had already agreed to deliver the whole series before Ramadan but only received eight episodes.

"What happened is that we received instructions a day before it was supposed to begin airing during Ramadan to stop distributing and that's why we could not deliver the rest of the episodes," Awameleh said. "There was no way this firm could refuse to carry out the orders of QT which legally owned the series," he continued.

Nine television channels were scheduled to broadcast the series including MBC, Orbit's series channel Musalsalat, and Jordan TV.  

Set in Afghanistan during the Soviet era, the $2.5 million dollar series features a love story between an Afghan girl and a Palestinian fighter and depicts the role of Islamic mujahideen and the US in fighting the communists. Most of the channels were infuriated by the move especially after running ads for the show and heightening viewer expectation. Both Orbit and MBC threatened to sue although Orbit later backed down.

Clarifying its decision to pursue the lawsuit, MBC said that it had "launched a large advertising campaign for the series and aired the eight episodes which were received from ATS before having to halt broadcasting. The interruption in broadcasting resulted in substantial losses."

The Qatari decision fueled a wave of rumors from Islamist death threats against the cast and crew for shedding bad light on the Taliban to US pressure being exerted on Qatari leaders. Still other rumors said the series had not been completed, but that was quickly brushed off as untrue by the writer of the series. "There were some rumors that the series was not finalized when it began airing. But that is completely untrue," said Jamal Abu Hamdan, who wrote the script of "The Road to Kabul".

Abu Hamdan told MEB Journal that it was a huge disappointment for him and all cast members when the show was taken off the air.

But when it came to widespread rumors about extremist Islamic death threats being the reason behind the stoppage, Abu Hamdan was skeptical.  His "guess" was that it was the Americans who were hurt most by the series and hence they might have pressured the Qataris to pull the brakes which ATS says achieved record viewership during the first eight episodes. "I don't think it was radical Islamists, because those groups changed their position after the several episodes that were aired," he said.

“The Road to Kabul reveals the role of the US in Afghanistan and the region, and moreover it was just before the American (2004) elections and maybe they thought it would affect the way Arab communities would vote."  Abu Hamdan said that he based his script on statements by former mujahideen, books and documents clarifying the role the US intelligence played in Afghanistan during that time.

Awamleh agreed that it was unlikely that Islamists were involved in Qatar's decision to halt the series. "There were threats against the cast members posted on an Islamist website but I don't think that was the reason the show was cut off the air. But I swear, that to this day I don't know why QT stopped it," he said. Qatar Television declined to comment.

Awameleh, who previously produced other hit drama series for MBC, said that his firm received a notice from a group of Lebanese lawyers on behalf of MBC in 2004 demanding $20 million in damages. But he does not know how much MBC has asked for in compensation during the first hearing which was held in a Dubai court. Awamleh said he did not attend the hearing and did not hire a lawyer to defend his company.

"We don't want to be the victims in a political struggle; why should someone who is creative and artistic be the sacrificial lamb in a political power play."