CAIRO: Culture Minister Farouk Hosni lashed out against a recent article published in Al Balagh Al Gadid, a weekly independent Egyptian newspaper, accusing him of communicating with Israeli officials asking them to support his nomination for the UNESCO’s Secretary General position.
In a press conference at his office on Saturday, Hosni accused the reporters of fabricating the allegations which he attributed to Israel’s campaign against him.
Titled “Hosni Calls Israel for UNESCO Seat , the article ran on Jan. 12
“As the minister of culture, I would never do such thing, Hosni said in his own defense while addressing a limited number of journalists called in for the Saturday press conference.
“The writers have no national or regional sense of responsibility, he said, arguing that such allegations are “misleading and are a “threat to Arab states.
The minister said he is considering filing a report to the Prosecutor General against the newspaper and the journalist who wrote the article.
The article claims to have obtained information from an inside source within the ministry. The source claimed that Hosni had “intensive talks with the Israeli Ambassador and other Israeli officials during the past three weeks in order to boost his chances of winning UNESCO’s top job to be announced in Paris next October.
Hosni was heavily criticized in Israel last year over a statement he made at the Egyptian People’s Assembly when he denied the existence of any Israeli books in Egyptian libraries.
“If I find any, I’ll burn them myself, the minister said, addressing parliament.
Unconfirmed news reports have been circulating that Israel has influenced the United States to oppose Hosni’s nomination. Egyptian reports claim that the US had threatened to withdraw from UNESCO if he is not removed from the candidate list.
The conservative Israeli press, including Yedioth Ahronoth considers Hosni “one of the strongest opposition leaders in the Egyptian government to stand against normalization with Israel.
“Israel is weighing the option of bringing the case to the attention of the international community and thus harming his chances of receiving the position, Yedioth Ahronoth reported immediately following the “books remark last summer. Egypt’s culture minister is the only remaining Arab nominee for the job.
Hosni told the state-run Akhbar Al Youm in an interview published on Saturday that Israel doesn’t want an Arab and a Muslim to head this prestigious organization and that is the reason behind the campaign against him, adding that his election platform is based on tolerance and cultural understanding.
The American-Jewish Committee called on the ministry to establish a museum of Jewish antiquities and culture in Cairo but their request was declined. Israel is using this incident to argue against Hosni’s nomination.
The minister is facing yet another opposition front, this time from within Egypt. Some intellectuals and activists are against the minister’s anticipated job. Some have even created a Facebook group called “Egyptians against nominating Farouk Hosni for UNESCO .
The group called him “the man who ruined Egyptian Culture over 20 years as Minister of Culture.
Farouk will soon embark on an African tour to rally support for his nomination. His first stop will be Libya, followed by Central Africa.
