Egypt: Foreign Ministry launches new blog to promote Cairo’s policies

Cairo has embarked Sunday on a communication war with what it called false information as the Foreign Ministry launched a new blog to send out its own information on the situation in the country and sell Cairo’s foreign policy to the world.

The blog launch was announced by the ministry’s spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid who did not hesitate to point the finger to foreign reporters.

“The launch of the new blog comes within the ministry’s integrated strategy to strengthen and diversify ways to communicate with the outside world, especially in light of the increasing and distorted media campaigns adopted by some western media on Egypt’s economic, security and political situation,” Abu Zeid said.

Cairo aims through this initiative at rallying people around its policies and warding off critics.

“This initiative aims to provide an informal platform for diplomats and officials, and equally scholars, academics and thinkers to contribute to debates on Egypt’s foreign policy and to share their comments, thoughts and analyses on Egypt’s role in the region and the world,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in the blog’s welcome note.

Egypt has been accusing foreign reporters of disseminating false information on the situation in the country, with reference to its fight against militants in the Sinai.

Al-Sisi last week ratified a controversial anti-terrorism law which, according to journalists and human right activists, muzzles the media and jeopardizes the work of journalists, as well as rolls back the freedom attained in 2011 during the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.

The Egyptian foreign ministry had also handed reporters a hand-out of terminologies to use when covering events on the state’s war against militants.

Furthermore, the ministry’s spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid last week blasted CNN, accusing the American TV network of unprofessional reporting following the alleged beheading of the Croatian captive by the IS-affiliated group in North Sanai. The CNN report said Egypt was doing poorly in the fight against terrorism.