The Media and Culture Committee in the Shura Council accused foreign parties, which it did not specify, of trying to incite sectarian strife between Muslims and Christians by using tabloids.
Dr. Abdel-Salam Abdel- Ghafar, the head of the Committee, said, during the committee’s meeting to discuss the issue of the Egyptian Press, the parties who financed these tabloids were reconsidering their plans after the swift reaction of the Egyptian government, the judiciary, the Supreme Press Council and the Journalists’ Syndicate. He added that these parties realized the mistake some of their agents had committed after the failure of their plans.
The committee warned against any new restrictions being imposed on the freedom of press, stressing that freedom of the press was guaranteed by the Constitution and could not be gone back on.
[Similar news reported by Al-Wafd, July 23, 2001 (p.1)]
