 CAIRO - Egypt has banned editions of two French and German newspapers, Le Figaro and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, because of articles deemed insulting to Islam, the state news agency MENA said on Sunday.
| This is the way governments seethe ... |
Under a decree issued by Information Minister Anas el-Feki, the two editions will not be able to enter the country, it said. “They published articles which disparaged Islam and claimed that the Islamic religion was spread by the sword and that the prophet ... was the prophet of evil,” it added.
| I take it truth isn't a defense in these proceedings ... |
“The minister of information said that he would not allow any publication that insults the Islamic religion or calls for hatred or contempt of any religion to be distributed inside Egypt,” the agency said.
| "Because you know how easily we get offended!" |
The agency gave no further details of the articles deemed offensive and did not link them to Pope BenedictÂ’s speech in Germany on Sept. 12, in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor as making similar remarks about Islam and the Prophet Mohammad (PTUI PBUH).
The Egyptian government rarely bans mainstream European newspapers or magazines. |