1.2K foreign reporters enjoy full freedom in Egypt, are not 'enemies or spies': Head of State Info Service

CAIRO – 20 October 2021: There are 1,200 foreign reporters in Egypt who are all “dear colleagues and are not enemies or spies,” head of the State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said Monday in a meeting at the parliament.

“We are a regulatory authority, not a commanding authority, and we do not deviate from the rules of regulating foreign press in every democratic country,” Rashwan told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives.

Rashwan added that SIS deals professionally with the foreign media and its correspondents in Egypt, emphasizing that “we have nothing to hide or to be ashamed of, neither are we afraid of different opinions.”

He called on all Egyptian officials to cooperate with the local and foreign media so they do not “leave void that would be filled by an enemy.”

For his part, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is always keen on the attendance of foreign reporters in all presidential events and meetings that are attended by the local media, according to Rashwan.

He also said that foreign journalists enjoy full freedom to work and to visit the sites of all national projects.