Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has urged the media to help prevent defamation of the military, which he warned would be seen as “high treason” amid a campaign to crush Sinai jihadists.
President Sisi’s comments at a ceremony to inaugurate the “New El Alamein” city in western Egypt followed complaints by the authorities against foreign and local media coverage of the Egyptian government’s campaign in Sinai.
The government has increasingly begun to fret about media coverage of its activities ahead of the impending presidential election that the incumbent is expected to win easily. The President is facing only one candidate who used to be one of his staunch supporters.
In a speech broadcast live on television, President Sisi warned, “It is not appropriate that the military and police should be defamed and we will not allow it. I hope the media helps us confront that without me repeating this demand. This defamation will be met with the law. It constitutes, for me, high treason.”
Some media stations also reported that the military operations in Sinai had caused food shortages for residents of the northern part of the peninsula, pointing out that many civilians have been harmed by stray strikes.
A senior military official said the army has provided food and supplies to the residents. He asserted that “the armed forces have distributed goods to the residents… in coordination with the Ministry of Supply and North Sinai governorate has supplied them with all goods in short supply”.
A government spokesman has explained that “the operations in Sinai are ongoing, as the Army continues to destroy the infrastructure for the extremist elements as well as to target them in some residential areas without harming civilians”.
