Egypt hails Trump’s criticism of western media coverage of terror attacks

Tuesday 07-02-2017 02:28 PM

U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House on Feb. 6, 2017 - Reuters

CAIRO, Feb 7 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s foreign ministry hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the western media’s coverage of some terrorist attacks around the world, saying that it is in line with Egypt’s anti-terrorism strategy.

Based on a list of terror attacks released by the White House, western media “ignored” a number of them in its coverage, nine of which were in Egypt, indicating “a clear bias” in coverage, according to the foreign ministry’s statement published Tuesday.

The ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid stated that the U.S. administration’s stance is in line with Egypt’s repeated calls on the international community “to adopt a comprehensive, coordinate and non-selective strategy to combat terrorism at all levels; security, political, cultural, media and others.”

Abu Zeid also referred to the “selectivity and partiality” evident in some coverage of attacks. Referring to the attack on St. Peter’s Church in Egypt late last year, Abu Zeid said that some western media outlets displayed them as a “security failure” on the part of the government to protect Christians.  

The blast in Dec. killed 29 and injured dozens of worshipers, many of whom were women and children attending the Sunday mass at the time. The Cathedral is considered one of Egypt's most symbolic religious sites for Copts.

Egypt has been battling a rising insurgency, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula, ever since the ouster of President Mohamed Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, in July 2013.

In various diplomatic circles and through successive foreign ministry statements, Egypt repeatedly called for a shift in the way the international community deals with terrorism.

In its latest statement on Tuesday, Abu Zeid expressed Egypt’s hope that the U.S. would succeed at influencing the international arena in this regard.

facebook comments