Washington D.C: The Middle East Media Research Institute, also known as MEMRI, denied misquoting Hani al Sibai, an Egyptian Islamist, on the UN and US Treasury’s terrorism list.
Yigal Karmon, MEMRI’s director, rejected al Sibai’s earlier remarks to Asharq al Awsat where he accused the organization of distorting his statements during a
program on al Jazeera satellite television, broadcast on July 8th 2005, a day after the London bombings.
MEMRI’S website had alleged al Sibai described the attacks on London’s transport system as “a great victory”. On the other hand, the Egyptian Islamists said he was only describing al Qaeda’ position and not his own.
In a telephone conversation with Asharq al Awsat, Karmon said, “We did not slander al Sibai. We translated his every word; anyone who consults our site and watches the extract online can see this for themselves.”
He added, “He should not have blamed the mirror as it only shows a reflection. He should blame himself and everybody is well aware who Hani al Sibai is and what he represents… Who is he trying to deceive? The Western audience who he mistakenly believes does not understand the meaning of his words. He needs to understand the rules of the game have changed and that the good days have come to an end.”
MEMRI was established in 1998 as a non-governmental organization and has offices in Washington D.C, London , Berlin , Jerusalem , Baghdad , and Tokyo .
In a previous conversation with Asharq al Awsat, al Sibai had compared the decision to blacklist his name to being judged by a military tribunal in Guantanamo because it was a “pre-judged” and “fabricated” decision.
He also attacked the Egyptian government for its part in adding his name to the list of international supporters of terrorism “because of I exposed a deal to return me to Cairo with two other Islamists.”
Currently, there are 140 individuals related to the Taliban, 182 individuals, and 117 companies affiliated with al Qaeda on UN Security Council’s list of terrorism supporters. All 191 member states have to abide by the sanctions imposed on those listed.