The managing editor of an Egyptian newspaper was fired over Monday's publication of a 1981 photograph of President Anwar Sadat's bullet-riddled corpse, his publisher said.
Mahmud al-Shennawi, publisher of Al-Midan, told members of the Shura Council that he dismissed editor Said Abdel Khaleq "because of the photo of the late Egyptian president, who deserves respect for his achievements."
The remarks by Shennawi, who is also a Shura member, were quoted by fellow members of the Shura (consultative council), AFP reported.
Shennawi said Mustafa Kamal Helmi, who heads a government press watchdog, the Superior Press Council, had filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, saying the photo was "unethical" and harmed a "symbol of national action."
Helmi is chairman of the Shura Council.
Al-Midan, an independent newspaper that has a reputation for sensational stories, published the photograph on the front-page of Monday's edition.
Taken immediately after he was shot by Islamic militants while reviewing a Cairo military parade on October 6, 1981, the picture shows the late President Sadat's blood-covered corpse stretched out in the morgue, bullet holes in his abdomen.
Shennawi reportedly told the Shura that Sadat deserved respect "particularly for the decision to launch the war" against the Jewish state in 1973, which took Israel by surprise and achieved major tactical gains for Egypt. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
