Former Al Jazeera cameraman who is suing network, 'collaborated with Egyptian intelligence agent'

A former cameraman for Al Jazeera, who is suing the Doha-based broadcaster, reportedly had close relations with Egyptian security services while working for the news network.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

13 July, 2017

Al Jazeera is a part of the crisis between Qatar and four Arab states [Getty]

A former cameraman for Al Jazeera, who is suing the Doha-based broadcaster, had close relations with Egyptian security services while working for the news network, hacked e-mails have revealed.

Egyptian Mohamed Fawzi collaborated with an Egyptian intelligence agent by providing information on the channel's programming, according to correspondences leaked to Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

The veteran cameraman was forced to flee Egypt after authorities raided the network's Cairo office and detained several journalists in December 2013.

He took a job with the Qatari channel in Doha and then in the US to avoid returning to Egypt, where he was convicted in absentia on terror-related charges.

In one of the e-mails, Fawzi accuses an agent called Temo Kamal of ruining his life by finding him work at Al Jazeera and pleads for him to reverse a government ban on him returning to Egypt.

The agent then tells the cameraman that this arrest was his own fault as he had sought to work with security agencies in the first place.

In another message, Fawzi gives Kamal details of a Muslim Brotherhood event at Harvard University that was aired on Al Jazeera.

Fawzi along with a group of journalists are suing Al Jazeera for neglect and endangering the lives of journalists working in Egypt.

In 2013, ten employees of the company were accused of spreading "false news" while covering public demonstrations against the military coup that removed former president Mohamed Morsi.

Of the ten, only three - Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste - were detained. Greste was held in prison for over a year, while Mohamed and Fahmy spent 437 days in detention before they were released.

Earlier this month, The New York Times revealed that Fahmy was given $250,000 by the Emirati ambassador to the US to help cover legal fees in the case.

Al Jazeera is a main part of the crisis between Qatar and four Arab states, who severed all trade and diplomatic ties with Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

The four states - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain, have made a list of 13 demands, including the closure of Al Jazeera along with the London-based The New Arab, or face further sanctions.