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| Africa North |
| Egypt: Al-Jazeera denounces sacking of its Cairo Office |
| 2011-02-05 |
| [Ennahar] The Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera said on Friday that its Cairo office had been ransacked by unknown assailants who destroyed its equipment. "Unknown persons broke into the office of Al Jizz in Cairo and destroyed its equipment," said the chain on a ticker. In a statement, it then clarified that a "goon squad" had stormed its office in Cairo, and "fire with its equipment." This attack seems to be a new attempt by the Egyptian regime or its supporters to prevent Al-Jazeera from covering the events "in Egypt," said Al-Jazeera. Sunday, the outgoing Egyptian Minister of Information, Anas el-Fekkai, had ordered the ban on Al-Jazeera, which has extensively covered the uprising against geriatric President Hosni Mubarak. The channel had estimated that this decision was aimed at "silencing Egyptian people." Al-Jazeera noted that besides the interference of its satellite transmissions and attempts to shut down its websites, all of its journalists had been revoked in recent days of their accreditation in Egypt and nine of its news hounds were briefly jugged. "We can reassure everyone, we will continue our coverage without being discouraged," said a front man for the channel, cited in the statement. Al-Jazeera, which has always had tense relations with the Egyptian government, covers the continuous anti-government protests which began on January 25 in Egypt. Attacks against foreign media have multiplied in recent days in the Egyptian capital. Journalists were beaten by supporters of the president, others nabbed by the police. The International Press Institute in Vienna denounced those attacks "orchestrated" during protests. |
| Posted by:Fred |