Egypt regime orders media to ignore Morsi's presidential position in reports

Egyptian intelligence services have ordered pro-regime media to refer to the country's first democratically-elected president by his full name but not his position in reports on his sudden death.

Sources told The New Arab's Arabic-language service on Monday that authorities issued instructions to the media to refer to the ousted ex-leader as Mohamed Morsi al-Ayyat.

Pro-regime media announced Morsi's dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom with the same brief bulletin authorised by the authoritarian government.

In one case, a news anchor accidentally finished the statement by saying: "This was sent by a Samsung device".

Footage of the gaffe has been widely shared on social media as evidence of government control of the press.

Most Egyptian state-owned dailies have barely mentioned Morsi's death, with the majority of newspapers burying the news in the back pages of Tuesday editions.

Pro-regime news websites similarly ignored the news, while international media have provided extensive coverage to Morsi, highlighting poor conditions Egyptian authorities held him in since he was ousted by military coup six years ago.

Following the news of his death, Egyptian television channels went into feverish overdrive labelling Morsi's Brotherhood a "terrorist group" and playing a looping tagline of "The Brothers are liars".

Talk show host Ahmed Moussa launched a tirade against Morsi on his programme on Monday evening.

Moussa, a staunch supporter of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, labelled the ex-president a "killer, criminal and spy".

Egyptian authorities buried the 67-year-old in a dawn ceremony closed to the public and press early on Tuesday.

Morsi, a leader in the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, was jailed a year into his presidential term following a Sisi-led overthrow.

He spent most of his final days in solitary confinement, was denied healthcare and largely barred from receiving visitors.

A chorus of officials and figures from around the world have paid tribute to Morsi, as the UN backed calls for an independent investigation into the causes of his death.

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