Free Press in the Mediterranean: two cases in Egypt and Tunisia
The Al-Azhar University in Cairo has demanded a ban on selling in Egypt a book critical against the 'Wahhabism', an extremist Islamic current. The book titled 'Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad', which is written by Natana DeLong-Bas of the U.S. Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, was published by Oxford University Press in 2004 and republished in Egypt by the publishing house of the American University of Cairo (Auc). The Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Culture, said that he fears that "such a position (of al-Azhar) has been adopted under political pressure." Heba Raouf Ezzat, a university lecturer in political science at the Cairo University, considers "the incident a sign of the sensitiveness towards any criticism against Wahhabism or Saudi Arabia in Egypt".
Ansamed reports that Tunisia has refused entry to the country to Robert Menard, secretary-general of media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, who was about to attend the World Summit on Information Society scheduled for November 16-18 (see LND#28). Reporters Without Borders defined the decision of the Tunisian Government as absurd and unacceptable: “Already, this summit is a masquerade. Freedom of expression will be ... absent ... at this summit”. The summit's president informed the watchdog he had received a declaration from the Tunisian government saying that Menard would not be allowed to enter the country because of a complaint against him made in 2002, which is still being investigated.
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Libertà di stampa nel Mediterraneo: due casi di censura in Egitto e Tunisia >>>