Egyptian security forces raid Iranian TV office in Cairo

Egyptian security forces on Saturday evening raided the office of Iranian Al Alam TV channel in Cairo and detained its director for questioning, a correspondent of Al Alam told Xinhua. "About 20 policemen, not in uniform, raided our office in Cairo, searched everything and took all the tapes and technical equipment, accusing the office of running without licence," said Mohamed Amin, Al Alam's correspondent in Cairo. Amin, who has been in the editing room during the raid, told Xinhua that they told the police the license request has already been submitted and the procedures are underway, but they refused to leave the office. The security forces belong to a police department for control over art and media work, said Amin, noting they dealt appropriately with Al Alam staff but they insisted to shut down the office for lacking a legal license. Amin said that the office director, Ahmed al-Seyoufi, is currently being interrogated at a nearby police station, noting the Al Alam office in Cairo had been raided by the police in mid- May 2012 during the temporary rule of the military council. "Our reports are neutral and unbiased," Amin argued, stressing that Al Alam covers the protests of supporters and opponents of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi "equally and professionally. " Iran has criticized the military procedures that ousted Morsi earlier this month as "unacceptable and disturbing," but later on, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi urged Egyptian political groups for national unity and voiced respect for the "choice made by the Egyptian people."