The new projects, which are contained in the proposed 28.5-billion-dollar fiscal 2004 international affairs budget, will be run by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an autonomous agency that oversees U.S.-funded broadcasts abroad, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The board, which was given as total of 507 million dollars in fiscal 2003, will see its budget jump 11.1 percent to 563.5 million dollars in fiscal 2004 "to advance broadcasting efforts related to the war on terrorism," the State Department said.

Of that amount, 30 million dollars has been earmarked to start up the Middle East Television Network that, once operational, "will have the potential to reach vast audiences" in the region, it said.

The idea has been discussed by U.S. officials and lawmakers for months, but the release of the budget on Monday was the first time the project has been formally given the go-ahead.

The channel is part of the State Department’s diplomatic activities to influence the Arab public opinion, according to budget documents circulated Monday.

The channel will help overcome problems faced by the Washington in coaxing Arab governments to air American official ads in state-run Arab channels and TV networks.

Justifying the demand for the new allocation, the State Department said that after 9-11 attacks the United States realized its isolation, as a people and an administration, from many peoples.

This, argued the State Department, creates a negative atmosphere for the American diplomacy on different arenas related to American national security policies.

In addition to the television network, the BBG is also being given funding in the fiscal 2004 budget to substantially boost its broadcasts into Indonesia.

The budget provides for a doubling of Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts in Indonesia and a significant increase in television programming to the Southeast Asian country.

The BBG's fiscal 2004 budget also reflects a reprioritization in the nations the agency seeks to target, according to the spending plan.

Money has been re-directed away from so-called "low priority" audiences in central and eastern Europe to those in the Middle East and South Asia which are now considered "high priority," the budget said.

Central and Eastern Europe are no longer priorities because the countries there have "demonstrated significant advances in democracy and press freedoms, and are now, or will be soon, NATO and European Union members," it said.

The BBG budget also shows a slight 6.1-percent increase, from 25.3 million dollars in fiscal 2003 to 26.9 million dollars in fiscal 2004, for Radio Marti broadcasts beamed into Cuba.

The State Department hired last year Charlotte Beers, a marketing guru, to polish its image in the Middle East.

Using video clips and photos, Beers on Wednesday, December 18, gave a multi-media presentation to reporters, presenting her efforts over the last year on correcting the U.S. tarnished image in the Muslim world.

Beers's campaign relies on all forms of communication from the Internet to television, and includes a radio station to broadcast U.S. pop music and news in Arabic.

Beers deplored verbal attacks against Muslims as counterproductive to her efforts.

The 66-year-old Texan also underlined the importance of dialogue between the United States and the Muslim world.

Her office will next target Islamic youth with a magazine and an educational science and technology television show designed for 12-20 year-old Egyptians.