Follow the leader: Egyptian newspaper doctors Obama photo to show Mubarak in front
Egypt's state-run newspaper Al-Ahram has come under fire after it doctored a photo of the country's leader President Hosni Mubarak, placing him in front of the group when it was actually President Barack Obama who was leading the pack.
Mr Obama was hosting the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders at the White House for Middle East peace talks when the original photo was taken.
Al-Ahram showed Mubarak in front of the other four leaders - when in fact he was the one furthest behind.
Picture not-so perfect: Egyptian paper Al-Ahram published this photo, altered to put President Mubarak in the lead when in fact he was at the back of the group
Creative photo-shopping was used on the picture that ran on page six of al-Ahram's Tuesday edition, entitled The Way to Sharm el-Sheikh.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell traveled yesterday to the Egyptian Red sea resort for the U.S. brokered talks - hosted by President Mubarack.
The newspaper has since replace the image on its website with a photo of the assembled leaders sitting on chairs in the resort.
Trailing: In the original picture Mr Mubarack is actually the furthest behind of the group and Mr Obama is leading the government leaders at the White House
Independent paper Al-Masry al-Youm reported that Al-Ahram had 'carried out surgery' on the photo 'to show Mubarak leading and the rest behind'.
Opposition group 6 April Youth Movement also slammed the state-run paper, accusing it of being 'unprofessional' for running the altered image without notifying its readers that a change had been made.
The group said in a statement on its website: 'This is what the corrupt regime's media has been reduced to'. It added the paper had 'crossed the line from being balanced and honest'.
Israel officials said Sharm el-Sheikh was chosen as the destination for Tuesday's meeting in recognition of Egypt's vital role in peace efforts in the region.
Negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestininan leader Mahmoud Abbas are the first direct talks between the two sides in nearly two years.
Talks then move to Jerusalem and later in the month, when Mr Obama will meet with Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in New York