CAIRO: Last Friday, the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm could not be found on newsstands; rumors that the paper had been banned by the government circulated, as faithful readers searched for the newspaper in dismay.
The newspaper has one of the highest rates among opposition and independent newspapers for distribution. The publication has almost always been on top of events, presenting fair coverage; much of the readership has said it balanced out some of the “one-sided reports published by national papers. The newspaper is also famous for exposing corruption cases and shedding light on some of the government’s violations.
Many were ready to believe the ongoing rumors of the ban; however, the surfacing of the paper the next morning negated all speculations. Reportedly, the newspaper was only delayed by the Al-Ahram company in charge of the paper’s distribution.
Al-Ahram Distribution, denying the presence of any malice toward the newspaper, said that the daily in question was distributed on time. However, the Friday issue only surfaced on Cairo newsstands on Saturday morning.
“The delay is certainly intended, said one Al-Masry Al-Youm writer who refused to be named. “This is a fact; that Al-Ahram did not distribute the paper on Friday. A decision was made to ban it on that day from the market.
Nevertheless, the writer said the newspaper staff and seniors do not know the “real reason behind the delay; they can only speculate. “Al-Ahram newspaper circulation is very weak on Friday. The distributors might have wanted to boast its circulation by keeping Al-Masry Al-Youm, a strong rival, away for the day, said the writer.
“The decision to delay it might also be for security reasons. In Friday’s issue we had an exclusive interview with the father of the alleged perpetrator of the Beni Mazar massacre; the interview was bold . Maybe it is the reason, said the writer. “However, we will never know. Al-Ahram is already rejecting all of these speculations.
The Beni Mazar massacre in a village south of Cairo, where more than three families were slaughtered and mutilated during the night, has become a national issue with a young villager arrested last month and held responsible for the incident.
As national papers claimed the “mentally ill man was responsible, opposition and independent papers insisted that the young man was only a “scapegoat and could never have carried out the killings alone. The papers went so far as to say that the real perpetrators are certainly loose, claiming that the Ministry of Interior is only covering up for its malfunction; using an innocent man to silence people’s fears and put a stop to questions raised by the press.
Meanwhile, the father of the accused claims his son was tortured into confessing the murderous acts and blames Egypt’s police for failing to find the true murderers.
