Statement by the State Information Service (SIS) on current
events in Egypt
(August 17, 2013)
The State Information Service (SIS), as an Egyptian national institution, welcomes and appreciates contacting all media outlets and extending all assistance for facilitating the great job of foreign correspondents through supplying them with all facts about the current situation in Egypt. The SIS while underlining these vocational principles, expresses all appreciation for the sincere media outlets which are keen on conveying events in Egypthonestly and precisely in line with the common vocational and ethical criteria without any distortion.

At a time when the SIS expresses its respect for the freedom of opinion and expression, it noticed that some media coverage has steered away from objectivity and neutrality that areinternationally common, according to a certain political agenda; a state of affairs that led to conveying a distorted image that is very much far from the facts and media coverage. This raises many questions about the neutrality of this media coverage and its goals out of the following considerations:

First: Egypt is feeling severe bitterness towards some Western media coverage that is biased to the Muslim Brotherhood and ignores shedding light on violent and terror acts that areperpetrated by this group in the form of intimidation operations and terrorizing citizens let alone killing of innocent people and setting churches and public and private property on fire along with storming police stations and blocking roads and all other forms of thuggery and sabotage.

Second: Some media sources are still falling short of describing the events of June 30 as an expression of a popular will where millions of people took to the street to express themselves.

Third: Despite the danger of “Al-Qaeda” organization at the international level, the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has sought the support of some of its elements is completely ignored. Some Egyptian media organs have noticed on Friday that more than five vehicles have entered Ramsis square, in Cairo downtown, carrying masked elements carrying the black flag of al-Qaeda along with automatic weapons amid celebrations by the MuslimBrotherhood elements who were present in the square.

Fourth: Despite an escalation by the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the ousted president, police men, in cooperation with the Armed Forces men and through popular assistance, managed to carry out all missions assigned to them and were able to control the security situation in face of the terrorist attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to fling the country into violence. This situation refutes allegations about a civil war in Egypt inaccordance with comments by experts and analysts with international research centers (such as the Middle East Studies Institute and the US Foreign Relations Council along withBrookings Institute).

Fifth: Several media sources are seeking to focus on Western political stances that are adopting an approach different from the Egyptian one while making inaccurate remarks about the situation in Egypt ignoring this way several Arab and regional stances supporting Egypt in its war against terrorism such as the stances of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE. The importance of these stances lies in the fact that they came fromcapitals that have a regional influence and are associated with strong political and strategic relations with Western quarters; an indication to the possibility for backing the Egyptian State’s stance in the face of terrorism and Western political and media doubting campaigns.

Sixth: Several international media sources have ignored making reference to the huge numbers of victims from the Armed Forces and the police in face of the Muslim Brotherhood’s violence. They also ignored making reference to the participation of non-Egyptian elements from Pakistan, Syria and Palestine in violent acts committed by the Brotherhood group.

Seventh: These acts of violence by the Muslim Brotherhood group attest to the fact that they have exceeded all red lines regarding common humanitarian rules where a building owned by the Arab Contracts Company in Ramsis square was set on fire due to hurling Molotov Cocktails against it by Brotherhood elements. Fire columns extended to nearby Blood Bank building. The Brotherhood group is seeking shelter inside mosques that are used by them in their confrontations with the police forces as was manifested in the events of Al-Iman Mosque in Nasr City and Al- Fatah Mosque in Ramsis.

While the SIS reiterates its keenness on maintaining all channels of contact open with all foreign correspondents and media people and its respect for the freedom of opinion and the other opinion, it urges all media outlets to be accurate in their coverage and not to rely on false information and use only verified reports in a bid to convey an honest image without any distortion. It also urges them to be neutral so that they would convey a true picture to the local and world public opinion.