Egyptian journalists tried for insulting Gaddafi

A judicial source in Cairo reported on Monday that Egyptian Attorney General Maher Abdul Wahed had brought into the criminal court two Egyptian journalists under charges of "insulting" Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gaddafi.

He stated that the chief editor of the independent al-Khamis, Hassan al-Banna, and one of the journalists working with him, Fuad Fawaz, are accused of insulting the head of state of a friendly country any may face the possibility of a two-year imprisonment. He added that al-Banna described Gaddafi as "a liar in two of his articles published three months ago."

The Cairo criminal court opened investigations into this case after the Libyan embassy in Cairo raised this issue against the two journalists.