An Egyptian foreign ministry official criticized a recent article published by Britain’s Guardian website that attacked Cairo’s stance on Syria.
The October 20 article on Iran’s desire that Egypt attend key Syria talks in Russia days earlier said Cairo voted for a Russian UN Security Council resolution on Syria to block a rival French draft “which had demanded an end to airstrikes on Aleppo.”
In a letter published by the foreign ministry Sunday, Egyptian ambassador in London Nasser Kamel said he was “astonished” at “the obvious and factual mistakes” the article contained.
“Egypt voted in favor of [the French] resolution as well as for the Russian draft resolution due to what we view as common elements shared by both drafts,” Kamel wrote.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has said that Cairo voted on the two draft resolutions, which eventually failed to pass, because they both called for a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry denied that Cairo’s move has caused a rift with Saudi Arabia, a key backer of rebels fighting against Bashar al-Assad, who are supported by Moscow.
Kamel said the article was misleading for claiming that Saudi Aramco had temporarily suspended supply of refined oil products in response to Cairo’s action.
He cited a statement given by Egypt’s petroleum ministry early this month, which shows the decision by Armaco was made prior to the Syria vote.
The ambassador called on the paper to work towards changing or alleviating “the prevailing perception in my country about the Guardian being biased and lacking objectivity” in its coverage of Egypt. He said he expects the paper to publish his response to the story.
Russia on October 8 vetoed the draft resolution presented by France demanding an end to the bombing of Aleppo, but its own rival text which made no mention of a halt to airstrikes was rejected after it failed to get a minimum nine votes in favour.