Egypt's state TV has barred employees from watching Qatari-run Al Jazeera Mubasher Egypt within the organization's building.
Al-Masry Al-Youm learned that a request by the legal department to Essam al-Amir, chairman of the Egyptian Radio and TV Union, was approved and forwarded to the broadcast engineering sector. Egypt ordered the closure of al-Jazeera's Egypt service and recently detained members of its English service crew. Egypt accuses the channel of biased coverage of the political scene since the removal of former president Mohamed Mors, a major Qatar ally, last July.
The move is another restriction from the interim government on their battle for control of the Egyptian media.
The increasing restrictions on media and freedom of speech put into question Egypt's democratic transition, as the new interim government has also banned protests without prior authorization and arrested a slew of activists and opposition groups who disagree with the regime.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
