(AFP Photo)
Amnesty international has accused Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs of misquoting the rights group during an interview with the BBC. The ministry has contacted the group to explain the error and express its regret.
While being interviewed on BBC’s HARDTalk show, Fahmy alleged that Amnesty had proof that “heavy weapons” are being held by supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi at the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in in Nasr City.
Fahmy told HARDTalk on Tuesday that the international rights group issued a statement claiming there were “heavy weapons inside Rabaa.” Amnesty said on Wednesday it “has not issued such a statement.”
“We regret any misunderstanding as a result of this inadvertent reference,” Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atty explained. “We would like to confirm that the Minister did in fact inadvertently refer to heavy weapons rather than abuse and torture being mentioned in previous press release,” he said
Amnesty announced last Friday it had collected evidence, “indicating that a number of Morsi supporters had tortured individuals from a rival political camp.” In Wednesday’s statement the group stressed, “at no stage did Amnesty International refer to the presence of ‘heavy weapons’ inside the sit-in.”
Abdel Atty said that he had personally spoken with Amnesty’s Middle East chief in London to clarify the matter.
