Last night’s talk shows for Monday, 13 January 2020
Libya was once again topic du jour on the airwaves last night: Al Kahera Alaan’s Lamees El Hadidi covered the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Moscow between head of the internationally-recognized government Fayez Al-Sarraj and eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar. El Hadidi phoned Mazen Abbas, the head of the Alhadath Moscow bureau, who said that while Al Serraj signed the document the day had ended without an agreement because Haftar requested more time to consider it. El Hadidi also spoke to Haftar spokesman Khaled Al-Mahjoub, who poured cold water on the idea that Haftar-affiliated militia will cede any of the ground taken during the war (watch, runtime: 18:30). El Hekaya’s Amr Adib also took note of the story (watch, runtime: 3:04).
American citizen Moustafa Kassem dies in Egyptian prison: El Hekaya’s Amr Adib highlighted the news about Kassem’s death, who was serving a 15-year sentence in connection with the 2013 Raba’a protests (watch, runtime: 1:58). Adib noted that the Prosecutor General Hamada El Sawy ordered an autopsy for Kassem to determine the cause of death (watch, runtime: 1:56). The story is all over the US press this morning: We have more in Egypt in the News, below.
Cleaning fees struck from energy bills: El Hadidi phoned the head of the House energy committee, Talaat El-Seedy, who said that cleaning fees will no longer be collected through electricity bills as of July, but would be collected separately by local councils (watch, runtime: 3:27).