Fouda (left) and El-Aswany
Famous revolutionary writer Alaa El-Aswany says TV presenter Yosri Fouda has halted his show "Akher Kalam" (The Last Word) indefinitely because of what he described as “a clampdown on the media”.
Fouda was due to host staunch military council critic El-Aswany Thursday to comment on the interview that two Egyptian army generals, Mahmoud Hegazy and Mohamed El-Assar, gave Wednesday.
However, Thursday’s episode was abruptly cancelled, fuelling speculation that Fouda, a highly-respected media figure, was pressured into shifting his plans by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
El-Aswany said Fouda had phoned him up to inform him of the cancelation of the episode without citing any reasons.
While speaking to El-Nahar TV over the phone, El-Aswany said: “There is a clampdown on media that is led by the consultants of [toppled president Hosni] Mubarak’s regime, whom the military council seems to be dealing with up till the present time. I would say that’s why Fouda’s episode was cancelled.
“We’ve seen before attacks on the offices of three satellite channels in Aljazeera Mubasher, 25 January and Al-Hurra,” he added.
El-Aswany said he is still willing to be hosted on TV alongside a representative of SCAF. “I don’t think of SCAF as an opponent, but I feel that the revolution is failing,” he said.
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