Egypt at War with Al Jazeera
I haven’t been covering Egypt’s war on Al Jazeera, lately. But, I thought this pretty much summed up what’s been going on between the two:
Travel ban slapped on journalist
From correspondents in Cairo
November 25, 2006
Herald Sun
EGYPTIAN security forces barred Al Jazeera television’s Cairo bureau chief from travelling and briefly detained him overnight, security sources said.
Hussein Abdel Ghani, who was scheduled to fly to Qatar, appeared on Al Jazeera and said authorities at Cairo airport had told him public prosecutors had barred him from travel over his coverage of April’s Sinai bombings.
While covering the aftermath of the bombings, Mr Abdel Ghani reported militants had attacked a police checkpoint in an eastern Egyptian province.
The Interior Ministry denied Mr Abdel Ghani’s report. Prosecutors ordered his arrest for broadcasting false information aimed at spreading chaos in the country. He was released the same day.
Mr Abdel Ghani told Al Jazeera that when he attempted to leave the airport overnight after missing his plane, police told him he also faced a court case over a traffic accident and could face a one-year jail sentence. They detained him for four hours.
Al Jazeera has been banned from several Arab countries due to its hard-hitting and sometimes controversial coverage of events in a region accustomed to state-controlled media.
At least two of its correspondents are under arrest. Tayseer Alouni was convicted by a Spanish court of allegedly conspiring with al Qaeda militants.
