State television was neutral in covering Sunday’s violence at Maspero, where 25 people were killed in clashes between army troops and mostly-Coptic demonstrators, Egyptian Information Minister Osama Heikal has said.
“Private TV stations must stop inciting public opinion against national TV,” he said, referring to criticism of its coverage.
The minister also said that he formed a committee of independent experts to assess coverage of the events. “If it concludes the coverage was biased, I will make a formal apology to the public,” he said.
A number of experts and activists have urged Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s interim government to resign following Sunday’s violence. They also leveled scathing criticism at Heikal over state TV's coverage, which they considered biased.
State TV had reported that military forces were killed by armed protesters.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
