It seems that the relationship of the famous Egyptian businessman Salah Diab with "Al-Masry Al-Youm" newspaper, one of the most famous private newspapers in Egypt, has reached the end point, where he will abandon the newspaper to one of the sovereign bodies, a term used in Egypt for bodies such as the Presidency of the Republic, the intelligence and the army.

A source inside the newspaper revealed to Al-Jazeera Net that the publisher and owner of the newspaper, Salah Diab, succumbed to the security pressures that were put on him, and decided to sell it in order to strengthen the control of the security authorities in Egypt over the Egyptian media.

The source - who refused to be named - added that the sale process is in its final stages, as the two parties put the last frills before signing the contracts, and it is expected that the sale of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper will be announced within a few days, without disclosing the party that will buy, is it informing the Egyptians or another company. Of the companies that are owned or fronted by the security services.

The news came about Salah Diab's approval to sell Al-Masry Al-Youm, a few days after Muhammad Manzoor, a senator from the pro-regime Future Watan Party, acquired the "axis" channel from its owner, the famous businessman Hassan Ratib, where Manzoor acquired 50% of the ownership The channel, while the rest of the percentages were distributed to one of the official media agencies (unknown), Nilesat and Media Production City.

Although the private media have become no different from the government and state media, the current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has often expressed his dissatisfaction with the media's support for and promotion of his decisions, and companies affiliated with sovereign bodies have bought many private media, whether they are Newspapers or TV channels.

Salah Diab became famous during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak as he was a supporter of the coup led by the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (Egyptian Press)

Pressure and arrest

According to what has been reported in Egyptian media over the past years, Salah Diab has been subjected to many pressures to sell the newspaper, including his imprisonment in November 2015, along with his son and 12 other businessmen, against the background of several accusations, including corruption and possession of weapons, and later an Egyptian court decided to reserve On Diab's money.

The Egyptian prosecutor referred Diab to criminal trial on charges of possessing weapons and ammunition, then he was released on bail of 50,000 pounds before a verdict of acquittal was issued in September 2017.

In December 2019, the judiciary announced the removal of Salah Diab and businessman Mahmoud al-Gammal from the list of those banned from travel after they paid 270 million pounds for reconciliation in the case of accusing them of buying state land at low prices.

The authorities returned to arrest Diab last September, alleging that he was involved in a building violation in a factory owned by him, in addition to an interview with the authority's media about financial irregularities, which he did not provide details about.

It is worth noting that Diab is one of the largest businessmen in Egypt, and has large investments in several sectors, including petroleum and agriculture. He is the founder of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, which is one of the largest private Egyptian newspapers.

Media reports state that it is one of Israel's largest trading partners in Egypt.

Diab had great influence during the era of President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades before leaving under pressure from the January 2011 revolution, and he was also a supporter of the coup that was carried out by the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi when he was Minister of Defense on July 3, 2013.

Businessman Salah Diab is finally forced to give up his dearest possession (Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper) to the intelligence to avoid further prosecutions. The rest of the sunrise and the echo of the country

- kotb elaraby (@kotbelaraby) March 5, 2021