Egypt editor's suspension for graft story overturned



CAIRO- An Egyptian court has overturned the suspension of a state-owned daily's editor after the newspaper carried a report that two former military chiefs were being investigated for corruption, the official MENA news agency reported on Wednesday.
The court accepted an appeal by Al-Gomhuria editor Gamal Abderrahim against the October suspension, ordered by Ahmed Fahmy, who is chairman of the Supreme Press Council and president of the Islamist-dominated Egyptian senate.



Abderrahim claimed the action against him was a "settling of scores" by Islamists around President Mohamed Morsi for his paper's critical reporting of the Muslim Brotherhood over the years.
The paper reported that former defence minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and his armed forces chief of staff, General Sami Anan, had both been barred from leaving the country while an investigation continued.
Tantawi headed the interim government that took over from veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak on his ouster in February last year. Anan was his number two.
A judicial official denied the report, while a military source voiced "the extreme indignation of the armed forces over... the attack on their commanders and symbols," state news agency MENA reported at the time.
There have been growing accusations by staff of state-owned papers that they are being punished for their papers' support for Mubarak's regime before his overthrow, in a move by Islamists to stamp their control.
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Wednesday, November 7th 2012
AFP
           


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