RapidTVNews reports that Egypt's information minister, Anas al-Fiqi, has strongly condemned satellite broadcasters guilty of "transmitting without regard for consequences," also adding that recent broadcasting rules agreed by  Arab nations were the result of almost three year's work.

"In [a meeting of information ministers] in 2005 we talked about a joint Arab legislation or a method to draw up principles and regulations to organize the work of the Arab satellite television channels. At that time, it was proposed to enact a joint Arab legislation but we found that this contradicted the principle of state authority because legislations would not be valid in states unless they are approved by parliaments or unless they are issued by a decree in states where there are no parliaments."

He said there are more than 400 satellite channels broadcasting over the Middle East, and there is "anarchy and this anarchy must stop," stressing that "this sector must be organized because this is the desire of all the Arab states, not one state. If we leave these channels to spread and multiply without an organization, all will have to pay for the consequences."

One proposal is for a body to "organise" TV transmissions. Asked if this body can evaluate the performance of 500 channels, he says: "Yes, here in Egypt we evaluate all the channels on Nilesat. Every word that is transmitted on Nilesat is evaluated, but regrettably the picture is dark. If you spend only 10 minutes looking at these channels, you will discover that there is a plan to destroy the Arab society, destroy the values, the morals. They have ignored all of this and are concentrating on politics and political programmes."

Read more.