Dear all
BBC Arabic interview with Fathi Sourour allowed him to perpetrate lies.
Dear Sir
I write to complain about the recent interview on the Arabic BBC with Mr Serour, head of the Egyptian Parliament, about the recent sectarian violence in Naga Hammadi in which six Christians were killed.
Mr Serour said that the killing of the Christians was in revenge for the rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man, and that she had died as a result.
Mr Serour was not telling the truth.
This interview damages the BBC’s reputation of being honest and impartial. Mr Serour used to teach Law at university level and has been heading the Egyptian Parliament for twenty years. He knows the full truth about the incident in question.
The truth- that everyone in Egypt knows- is that there was an alleged assault and not rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man. The girl is alive and well and the case is still in court. It is also worth mentioning that the massacre of the Christians had no relationship whatsoever to this incident.
It is disgusting and outrageous that a man in his position uses the BBC to continue his malicious lies before millions of your trusting viewers.
I expected your TV presenter to be well informed of the facts prior to the interview. Leaving Mr Serour to tell his irresponsible lies without challenging him is not professional and may well have widespread repercussions within Egypt where Muslim extremists look for any excuse to kill Christians or damage their homes and businesses.
I expect a full investigation from the BBC into why he was not challenged when it was obvious that he was lying. More importantly, I expect the BBC to correct Mr Serour’s lies at the earliest opportunity. It is your responsibility to blacklist him as an unreliable, untrustworthy and irresponsible politician, and therefore not interview him in future.