Egyptian newspaper 'photoshops' Obama picture to show THEIR president leading the way at White House peace talks



Egypt's state-run newspaper Al-Ahram has come under fire for altering a photograph to make its own President Hosni Mubarak look like the host of White House talks over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



Some rather creative 'photo-shopping' was used on the picture that ran on page six of al-Ahram's Tuesday edition, entitled The Way to Sharm el-Sheikh.

The newspaper cut and pasted the photo of the leaders walking down the White House red carpet to make it look like Mubarak was the host and leader of the talks.

Altered image: In the 'doctored' photo, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been pasted in so it appears he leads the group in peace talks at the White House

President Barack Obama met middle Eastern leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. to start a round of peace talks.



Afterwards, photographers snapped an image of the group, with Obama out in front and Mubarak walking behind the others.

The orginal: Obama, as the neutral party and host, in the middle, is flanked by (l to r) President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine and King Abdullah II of Jordan

The arrangement of leaders in the 'real' picture was carefully orchestrated according to diplomatic protocol: Obama, as the neutral party and host, was in the middle, flanked by chief combatants, with regional neighbors on the outside, including Egypt.



Independent paper Al-Masry al-Youm reported that Al-Ahram had 'carried out surgery' on the photo 'to show Mubarak leading and the rest behind'.

Surely this didn't appear in a newspaper, did it? Yes it did. And not only has Mubarak been moved, he's been 'flipped'

Opposition group 6 April Youth Movement also slammed the state-run paper, accusing it of being 'unprofessional' for running the altered image without notifying its readers that a change had been made.

The group said in a statement on its website: 'This is what the corrupt regime's media has been reduced to'. It added the paper had 'crossed the line from being balanced and honest'.

The newspaper has since replaced the image on its website with a photo of the assembled leaders sitting on chairs in the resort.

Israel officials said Sharm el-Sheikh was chosen as the destination for the meeting in recognition of Egypt's vital role in peace efforts in the region.

Negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestininan leader Mahmoud Abbas are the first direct talks between the two sides in nearly two years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell traveled yesterday to the Egyptian Red sea resort for the U.S. brokered talks - hosted by President Mubarak.

