Britain slams Egyptian media

British diplomatic sources in Cairo revealed that there is a state of anger among decision making circles in the United Kingdom because of the Egyptian media’s attack on the British government over its latest report on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The UK-based news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that recent reports in the UK demanded limiting the volume of British investments in Egypt, adding that the country should be described as uncooperative. The calls come as a result of continuous attacks in the Egyptian media on the UK as well as the poor state of human rights and freedoms in Egypt.

Sources quoted added that Egyptian media kept denouncing Britain’s reports about rights and freedoms in Egypt, the latest of which was the report issued by the Foreign Affairs Committee at the House of Commons on the Muslim Brotherhood, ignoring the fact that Britain is the largest foreign investor in Egypt with investments estimated at $30 million.

Egyptian media outlets had criticised the UK following a statement issued by the British embassy in Cairo about the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s approval of a $12 billion loan to prop up the Egyptian economy over a period of three years.

As a member of the IMF board, the UK government set a condition for the release of the loan to Egypt – that the country should clear its outstanding dues to international oil companies operating in the country, including British Petroleum.

The sources said that the Egyptian media is criticising Britain at a time when it does not dare to attack Russia, which imposed a flight ban on flights to all Egyptian airports and halted Russian tourism after a Russian plane crashed in Sinai last year.

The same sources said that Britain banned flights to one Egyptian airport only, which is the Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, adding that there are around 32 weekly flights between the two countries. Moreover, the sources added, British tourism to Egypt is five times higher than Russian tourism, according to Egyptian cabinet figures.