CAIRO- The al-Jazeera news network is suing the Cairo-based al-Ahram newspaper over remarks regarding the channel's dress code, Qatari media reported Thursday. Al-Ahram, owned by the Egyptian government, will face suits in both Egypt and in British courts, a spokesman for al-Jazeera said. An article entitled Jazeerat Al-Taharoush ("An Island of Harassment"), published in al-Ahram on June 9, said that the news network pressured its female presenters into wearing the headscarf. The allegations leveled against the network "were completely baseless, and without merit, and were aimed at damaging the reputation of the al-Jazeera network", an al-Jazeera spokesperson said. The statements, according to the lawsuit, were repeated by al-Ahram's supervisor Atef Hazeen in interviews on several satellite channels. Hazeen and others at the paper was also facing personal suits. Five female anchors resigned from al-Jazeera in January, saying the company had mishandled their complaints against a superior who allegedly harassed them, claiming they were dressed immodestly. The pan-Arab satellite channel is based in Doha, the Qatari capital, and is owned by the royal family of the emirate.
