26 Apr 2021; MEMO: Egypt's Information Minister Osama Heikal resigned yesterday, Al-Ahram newspaper reported spokesman of the Cabinet, Nader Saad, saying.
In press statements carried by state-run MENA Agency, Saad said Heikal submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, citing personal reasons. According to Al-Ahram, no details were given for the move.
Heikal came under fire by chief editors of many state-run media organisations after criticising their performance in 2019.
He said that most Egyptians aged 35 and under, who are between 60 and 65 per cent of the country's 100 million population, had stopped reading newspapers.
In the past month, he faced a wave of criticism from lawmakers who accused him of negligence, poor performance, and carrying out financial violations.
Heikal, 56, was appointed Minister of State for Information Affairs in December 2019.
One news site reported sources saying that his resignation came as a result of a hidden battle between officials in the president's office and the General Intelligence Services.
The news website said that the battle between the two sides revolves around the mutual accusations of failure to completely stop the Muslim Brotherhood's media platforms.
