Egypt Tries to Block ‘60 Minutes’ el-Sisi Interview

From Voice of America

Egypt does not want the CBS news program “60 Minutes” to broadcast an interview conducted with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. CBS said in a statement the Egyptian embassy contacted the news show “shortly after” the interview and requested that it not be aired.

The interview, conducted by Scott Pelley, will air Sunday night.

The president confirmed in the interview that the Egyptian military has been working closely with its archenemy Israel.

“That is correct,” el-Sisi says in the interview. “We have a wide range of cooperation with the Israelis.”

Egypt and Israel have coordinated attacks on ISIS terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Pelley also questioned the Egyptian leader about the 60,000 political prisoners that Human Rights Watch says Egypt holds.

“I don’t know where they got that figure,” the president said. “I said there are no political prisoners in Egypt. Whenever there is a minority trying to impose their extremist ideology we have to intervene regardless of their numbers.”

A “60 Minutes” producer says in a video posted on the show’s Twitter account shows that “we understood that he wanted to be on the show. He wanted to be a figure up there with the powerful leaders in the Middle East and so we pitched this to him that those powerful leaders come on ‘60 Minutes.’”