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A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 25 noveMber 2019

Egypt: Independent media outlet says police raided its HQ

CAIRO (AP) — Security "Mada has shown nothing
forces on Sunday raided but courage in reporting
the offices of one of Egypt's the news against all odds
last remaining indepen- and in the face of brutal
dent media outlets, briefly repression," said Sherif Man-
detaining its top editor sour, CPJ's Middle East and
and two other journalists North Africa Program Coor-
and later releasing them, dinator. Mansour called for
the outlet and officials Egyptian authorities to "end
said. The raid is the latest their retaliation campaign"
in a widening government against the outlet.
crackdown on dissent and Two police officials who
media. spoke on condition of an-
The outlet, Mada Masr, has onymity said the raid was
produced investigative due to lack of an operating
pieces looking into some license. Media are required
of Egypt's government in- to have permission to work
stitutions, including the in- in Egypt, but that require-
telligence agencies, mili- ment is often used as a pre-
tary and presidency. Such Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks at the "G20 Investment Summit - German Business text to silence reporting the
stories are not produced and the CwA Countries 2019" on the sidelines of a Compact with Africa (CwA) in Berlin, Germany state sees as critical. The
by other local media in on Nov. 19, 2019. outlet has said in previous
the country, where nearly Associated Press statements that it has ap-
all newspapers and televi- plied for a license but not
sion channels are closely the top editor, Lina Atallah, the local public prosecu- The Association for Free- received a response.
aligned with the govern- and other journalists, it said. tor's office, Mada said in a dom of Thought and Ex- Despite being blocked,
ment or military. Gamal Eid, head of the tweet. They were later re- pression, a local media Mada Masr continued to
A group of plainclothes se- Arab Network for Human leased, according to Sharif advocate, condemned publish through mirror sites.
curity agents stormed the Rights Information, said Abdel-Koudous, a journalist the raid and demanded Most recently, it ran a story
outlet's offices Sunday af- lawyers from his organiza- at the outlet. the government "immedi- reporting that el-Sissi's son
ternoon and locked staff tion were not allowed to "They were aggressive from ately withdraw the security had been sidelined from
inside for hours, Mada re- enter Mada Masr's office. the beginning," he said of forces" from Mada Masr's his senior post in the main
ported on Twitter. After several hours, police security forces who were offices. intelligence agency. Any
During that time, the left the offices, taking Atal- questioning the group. The Committee to Protect reporting on intelligence
agents searched through lah and two other journal- Eid later said the journalists Journalists, a U.S.-based agencies or the president's
staffers' laptops and mobile ists, Mohamed Hamama were released without be- watchdog, also con- family is seen as off-limits by
phones and questioned and Rana Mamdouh, to ing charged. demned the raid. the government.q

13 dead in 1 of the 'worst' days of protest in southern Iraq

By SAMYA KULLAB port, when Iraqi authorities Earlier in Basra, which ac-
MURTADA FARAJ used live fire and tear gas counts for nearly 85% of the
Associated Press to disperse them, said se- country's crude oil produc-
BAGHDAD (AP) — Thirteen curity and hospital officials, tion, protesters burned tires
anti-government protesters who requested anonymity in the city center cutting
were killed Sunday by Iraqi in line with regulations. main roads. Nearly 90% of
security forces in one of One security official in Bas- Iraq's state revenue is de-
the "worst" days of clashes ra said it was "one of the rived from oil exports, but
in the country's south, as worst" days since the start there is no indication that
protests swept through the of the protest movement. the protest movement has
oil-rich area, officials said. At least 150 protesters were impacted production.
Demonstrators outraged by wounded in clashes across Protesters had cut roads
rampant government cor- southern Iraq. leading to Umm Qasr, the
ruption and poor services Four protesters were killed country's main commodi-
burned tires and blocked in Nassiriya province, and ties port, halting all trade
Mourners and protesters escort the flag-draped coffin of Munir main road arteries. one killed in both Najaf, the activity.
Ali, whose family said was killed in anti-government demonstra- Seven protesters were killed seat of Iraq's Shiite religious Security forces cleared
tions, during his funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019. in the southern province of authority, and Diwanieh the area of protesters on
Associated Press Basra, near the Umm Qasr provinces. Thursday.q