Egypt’s government has agreed to reconsider its 2011 ban on permitting new privately owned satellite channels in the country, officials announced in Cairo.  The government has been under extreme local pressure over its on-going ban on certain channels.

The Egyptian Cabinet decided last week to re-assess the ban on new private satellite channels, the country’s Ministry of Investment said in a statement Thursday.  The Cabinet was responding to a request from Investment Minister Osama Saleh, who said he considers private satellite channels and other media entities to be important areas of investment for the country, the Al Ahram newspaper reported.

Egypt could not afford to ignore or refuse such investments in its current economic situation, Saleh said.

The ban was put in place in September 2011 by the interim government headed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which claimed private satellite networks were igniting chaos.

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