Arabic press review: Egypt denies authenticity of attack tape

Egypt government denies leaked tape

The Egyptian government has denied the authenticity of audio broadcast by a journalist which claimed an attack in the al-Wahat al-Bahriya area in Giza province was a set-up where soldiers were lured into an ambush by a double agent, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported.

More than 50 police were reported to have died in the attack, which has not been claimed by any group. The government said 16 police were killed. 

TV presenter Ahmed Moussa broadcast a voice recording of a doctor in the hospital where the injured from Friday's attack were transferred. The doctor relayed what he had learned from injured officers, including the presence of a double agent who enticed the security force into the militants' battleground.

Moussa said he received the leaked recording from the interior ministry, which was quick to deny the validity of the clip. "What has been circulating... contains unrealistic details that did not occur. Such recordings aim to create a state of confusion and frustration among the public," said the ministry.

Three steps to Yemen peace

The US ambassador to Yemen, Matthew Tueller, said that any solution in Yemen must be based on three principles: "To stop fighting, not to impede the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid, and a transitional phase that represents all Yemenis," according to statements made by the ambassador to the Saudi newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Tueller said his country was continuing its commitment to "achieve a political solution, but there is a high level of mistrust and some parties exploit the conflict to achieve their interests.

"Therefore progress towards peace is difficult."

IS cell dismantled in Algeria

Algerian security services in Tizi Ouzou province dismantled an IS cell, whose four members were preparing for operations against security headquarters in the state, the Algerian newspaper al-Shorouk reported.

Security sources told Shorouk that the four members of the cell were aged between 21 and 30 years old. Some of them met through Facebook and were in contact with IS cells abroad.

They revealed their affiliation to IS and were planning to carry out terrorist operations against security headquarters in Tizi Ouzou.

Queen of Jordan in solidarity with Rohingya

Jordan’s Queen Rania al-Abdullah arrived in Bangladesh on Monday to look into the situation of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar, the Jordanian newspaper al-Sabeel reported.

"The suffering I have seen and the stories I have heard from the Muslim Rohingya refugees are tragic," she said in a tweet.

* Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.