Egypt hands BBC protest note over report on alleged ‘forced disappearances’

CAIRO: Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) handed the BBC Cairo bureau a protest note over its controversial report on alleged forced disappearances the report claimed were carried out by Egyptian authorities.

SIS chief Diaa Rashwan handed the BBC’s Cairo bureau chief Safaa Faisal the objection note reacting to the report, saying the body demands “an official apology” from the British broadcaster over the report.

The head of BBC Cairo bureau, Safaa Faisal, praised the dialogue taking place between SIS and BBC, vowing that the British news network would seriously study the notes sent by SIS, local newspaper reports said.

“The Shadow Over Egypt” was a BBC report published in February that claimed Egypt’s security apparatuses participated in the enforced disappearance of Egyptian citizens.

Zubeida Ibrahim, an Egyptian woman mentioned in the report as one of those “forcibly disappeared,” has appeared on Egyptian television to refute the BBC disappearance and torture claims.

The incident stirred wide controversy between the Egyptian state and the British network, with the SIS accusing BBC of fabricating the story.