Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr closes

The Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera network announced yesterday night that Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr would stop broadcasting until further notice.

A presenter on the channel announced that the channel would stop broadcasting “temporarily until the suitable circumstances are afforded to it in Cairo and after it obtains the necessary permits.”

The move comes days after Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi held talks with a special envoy of the Emir of Qatar, the first time key figures from both countries have come together since Al-Sisi took office in June.

Egyptian officials believe the channel is hostile to Egypt and have said a condition of restoring relations with Doha is to have the channel closed down or having its editorial line changed. They believe the channel attacked the Egyptian authorities and intervened in the country’s internal affairs. Charges Al-Jazeera denies.

Al-Jazeera said it would incorporate both the Mubasher and Mubasher Misr channels into one new regional channel.

The Egyptian authorities closed Mubasher Misr’s office in Cairo after the ousting of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.