Egyptian security forces stormed the office of al-Alam Channel in Cairo on Saturday and arrested director of the office Ahmad al-Siyoufi.

Detained al-Siyoufi told al-Alam in a phone conversation that the forces did not find any SNG device but they seized all the office equipment.

They also removed al-Alam logo from the office, Siyoufi said.

Security forces claimed the al-Alam Cairo office does not have an official permission to work in Egypt, he said.

"We had already gone through all the formal procedure to renew our prmit and we expected to recieve it within two days (on Monday) when security forces broke into the office", Siyoufi explained.

“We still don’t know what was the actual reason before this attack,” al-Siyoufi also told Sadi al-Balad on Sunday.

Siyoufi added, "It has been 10 years since al-Alam has been active in Egypt we are shocked why they behaved like this".

Al-Alam offcie was once again attacked before Egypt's 2012 presidential election.

Egypt's military-led authorities have shut down several stations, including one operated by the Muslim Brotherhood, after former president, Mohamed Morsi, was toppled by the army.

On July 3, Egyptian security forces raided the offices of al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr news channel, and detained at least five of its staff.

Al-Jazeera's Egyptian station began broadcasting after the 2011 revolution that ousted the country's former dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Since then it has been accused by Egypt’s opposition of being sympathetic to Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood political party.

Muslim Brotherhood-owned Egypt25 network was also forced off the air and its managers were arrested shortly after General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's army chief, announced that Morsi and his government were no longer in office.

The authorities also shut down two other stations, al-Hafiz and al-Nas, after Morsi was overthrown.

NTJ/SHI