Ali El Sayed, Editor in Chief of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, told Daily News Egypt that a whole page of the newspaper's Wednesday issue was censored by "governmental officials". El Sayed added that the issue was sent to the printers where it was confiscated, and an entire interview was cut. The censored page should have included an interview with a former agent in the General Intelligence Directorate about special espionage operations of Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency. "The whole issue was out [published], except for the mentioned page. The authorities said the topic was controversial," said El Sayed. The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) confirmed the incident on Wednesday, describing it as a clear violation of press freedom. The network added the act is an obvious intervention by the police authorities in press affairs. Instead of the censored page, which was planned to be on page nine of the newspaper and written by Mohamed Sayed Saleh, an interview with the Egyptian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Khaled Fahmy was published. ANHRI demanded that the Egyptian authorities cease the censorship of newspapers or TV channels, even if they have an opposing opinion or cover news the government wants to censor. Censorship authorities recently confiscated three books published by Al-Tanweer Publishing, which were part of a delivery of books entering Egypt last August.
