Police allow Al-Jazeera correspondent to attend father’s funeral: sources

CAIRO – 13 November 2019: Security authorities granted Mahmoud Hussein, a correspondent of Qatari state-funded Al-Jazeera, a temporary release to attend his father’s funeral, local media cited sources as saying, without naming them.

The correspondent of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood group channel was accompanied by security guards. He attended his father’s funeral in a mosque in Aboun-Nomros area south of Giza, the sources said.

The step came within the framework of the state’s efforts to apply highest standards of human rights, according to the sources.

The Egyptian state has labeled the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization since late in 2013, after their leader, Mohamed Morsi, who served at the time as the country's president, was ousted following popular uprising, January 30 Revolution. Morsi, who ruled for only one year, died earlier this year.

The Egyptian authorities arrested Hussein in December 2016 over charges related to national security. Details about the allegations Hussein faces remain unclear.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain view Qatari al-Jazeera as a harbor for extreme individuals and a platform that encourage violence and terrorism in the region. The quartet has boycotted Qatar since June, 2017 and cut diplomatic ties with the peninsula over charges including sheltering terrorists and interfering in their domestic affairs.