Thursday, September 05, 2013

It's not nicknamed Faux News for nothing

Strange denial sequence today from Saudi Arabia (although perhaps yet consistent with a recent tradition) --

[Middle East Monitor] In an interview with Fox News, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said the Kingdom has helped Egypt both before and after the revolution. Following the deposition of President Mohammad Morsi, Saudi offered huge financial sums to help Egypt overcome the country's political crisis and crippling economic recession. However Faisal added that, "Every beginning has an end. Saudi Arabia offered grants and loans to Egypt, but will not continue to support it forever. Therefore, the Egyptian government must quickly find a solution to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to obtain a loan. We cannot support Egypt forever." -

Saudi Press Agency -- Jeddah, Shawwal 29, 1434, Sep 5, 2013, SPA -- Referring to statements attributed to Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and quoted allegedly by Fox News, an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that those statements are incorrect completely. The source added that the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not make recently an interview or speak to Fox News or other mass media.

The first item is now flagged with an addendum that the quotes are being verified.

UPDATE: In fairness to Fox News, there is currently no evidence that they ever reported such a quote from Prince Saud.