Chief prosecutor calls for probe into NYT report

Egypt's chief prosecutor has ordered an ‘urgent’ investigation into a media report about recordings of an intelligence officer instructing television presenters to downplay President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The New York Times quoted leaked audio recordings of intelligence officer, Ashraf al-Kholi, coaching several talk-show hosts, as well as a prominent actress, about how to persuade their audiences to accept the American position on Jerusalem. In an interview, one of the hosts, Azmi Megahed, confirmed the authenticity of the recording, and described the intelligence officer as a long-time acquaintance. A report on The Times of Israel site notes that chief prosecutor Nabil Sadeq said the report ‘undermines Egypt's security, public peace and hurts the public's interest’. The decision followed a flurry of condemnation of the article by lawmakers, commentators and the State Information Service. Addressing the furore, Michael Slackman, the international editor of the newspaper, said ‘our story was a deeply reported, consequential piece of journalism, and we stand fully behind it’. ‘We disclosed in the original report that the audio recordings were provided to The Times by an intermediary supportive of the Palestinian cause, but we had no agenda other than giving our readers the facts they needed to know.’ The government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, a close Trump ally, has denounced Trump's Jerusalem decision.