Al-Ahram logo (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Al-Ahram daily newspaper has denied Israeli media reports that it sacked a journalist due to participation in a controversial December visit to the Israeli Knesset by an Arab media delegation.
In an official press release on Saturday, Al-Ahram dismissed reports that it sacked Khaled Saad Zaghloul over the visit, describing it the assertion as “bearing no relationship to reality.”
Al-Ahram said Zaghloul was a reporter for Al-Ahram in the past, but that he had been dismissed in July 2011 for reasons the statement said “there is no need to go into”, supported by a labour court verdict of his dismissal in January 2013.
According to the statement, Zaghloul has “constantly exploited” the publication’s name to profit from various Western media outlets and official institutions via “Al-Ahram’s good reputation among such circles”.
Zaghloul was among a number of Arab journalists who visited the Israeli Knesset in December in an effort to open communication lines as part of an initiative promoted by the Israeli embassy in Paris.
“Saying that Al-Ahram has dismissed him because of his visit to Israel is inadmissible; yet we condemn his action [in taking part in the visit] completely,” the statement said.
Al-Ahram stressed that the former employee is not related in any manner to the publication, calling on all media and official institutions to refrain from dealing with him.
It added that it will undertake action against him for being an imposter, to protect Al-Ahram’s reputation and history in defending Arab causes and commitment to decisions by Egyptian publications against normalisation with Israel.
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