The Egyptian government denied rumours that it had officially banned a book by a British journalist that is critical of Egyptian politics.
The book titled “Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution,” was recently turned away by the American University in Cairo due to alleged government censorship.
The official news agency, MENA, reported that an information ministry official said the recent string of reports alleging that the government had banned the sale of the book in Egypt were “not true”..
Author John R. Bradley and his publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, said last week that orders for the book had been cancelled after censors said the book was banned.
The official, unnamed by MENA, said that “the information minister authorised distribution of the book inside Egypt when it was submitted to him for a decision”.
He added that “a special committee as is the case with all foreign books, had read Bradley’s book and then submitted it to the information minister who authorised its distribution”.
The official said the ministry “does not ban any books except those that are an affront to religious or moral values”.
“Bradley’s book was not previously banned in Egypt and was distributed as soon as it was reviewed by the information minister,” he said. Panapress .
