Defamation warning from Egypt’s president

Egypt’s president said yesterday that he considered any defamation of the security forces to be “high treason” and would not allow it, in an apparent warning to the media.

Abdel-fattah el-sissi’s warning came as security forces enter the fourth week of a campaign against militants led by the Islamic State group in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Unlike past campaigns, the declared aim is to eradicate the militants, with tens of thousands of troops thrown into battle backed by armour, fighter jets, helicopter gunships and navy vessels.

“If anyone defames them, he is defaming all Egyptians. It’s no longer a question of freedom of speech,” said el-sissi, who led the military overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013.