The Egyptian Embassy in Berlin has deleted a post that had been published on its Facebook page Tuesday for a schedule of rallies planned in support of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during his visit to Germany.
The schedule included two rallies planned on Tuesday, five on Wednesday and a farewell rally on Thursday.
In a related context, the 19-member delegation of actors, actresses and singers accompanying Sisi to Germany has raised controversy on the cost of the visit and the reason behind accompanying the actors to Berlin.
The list includes Yousra, Mamdouh Abdel Alim, Elham Shahin, Hala Sedqy, Ahmed Bedeir, Mohamed al-Sawy, Dalia al-Beheiry, Ezzat al-Alayly, Khaled Selim, Hisham Abbas, Medhat Saleh, Leqaa al-Khamisy, Ehab Tawfiq, Ayman Azab, Lebleba, Maged al-Masry, Mohamed Karim and director Khaled Youssef.
Head of the Actors' Syndicate, Ashraf Abdel Ghafour, said the syndicate had nothing to do with the choices of the delegation or the costs of the trip. He added he does not know the reason behind choosing those particular people.
Abdel Ghafour said he was invited twice, one invitation was from the Tamarod Movement and the other was from Independence Current founder Ahmed Fadaly. Abdel Ghafour added he could not attend due to his health.
Some actors were invited by director Khaled Youssef, he mentioned.
Youssef told Al-Masry Al-Youm he had nothing to do with the cost of the trip. The organization that encouraged the actors' trip was the Visual and Audio Media Chamber at the Federation of Industries, in addition to a number of satellite channels. Youssef added that no political parties encouraged the trip.
Head of the Visual and Audio Media Chamber at the Federation of Industries and businessman Mohamed al-Amin said the chamber bore the cost of the trip and the presidency had nothing to do with it.
Yousra and Abdel Alim said they joined Sisi to express support for him and show that the June 30 protests were a revolution and not a military coup.
Egyptian scientist and scientific adviser to interim president Adly Mansour Essam Heggy meanwhile criticized the idea of a delegation of actors and singers accompanying Sisi in an official visit.
Heggy said in a sarcastic statement on his Facebook page Monday, "This news must be wrong! The delegation will surely meet the Egyptian students and researchers who awaited this visit to propose their projects which would solve many problems. The Egyptian delegation will definitely include experts in many fields."
