CAIRO
By Gamal Saed
The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channel has rejected Egyptian charges against four detained journalists, saying the accusations "do not stand up to scrutiny".
"The detained Al-Jazeera crew have been pursuing the highest journalist standards of integrity and credibility," a spokesman for the Qatar-funded television said.
Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities arrested four journalists from Al Jazeera's English-language news channel for broadcasting "unlicensed" media material for Al Jazeera news channel from a downtown Cairo hotel.
In a Thursday statement, Egypt's Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat accused the journalists with "joining a terrorist group with the intent of gathering material and tampering with it with the aim of tarnishing Egypt's image".
But the Al-Jazeera spokesman said that the statement "looks like a prejudgment on an ongoing investigation".
Egypt's military-backed interim administration has repeatedly accused Al-Jazeera of bias towards ousted president Mohamed Morsi, an allegation the channel denies.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
