Episode of Egyptian satire show pulled

CAIRO – A private Egyptian TV station stopped the airing of the latest episode of a widely popular political satire program Friday after it came under fire for mocking the ultranationalist, pro-military fervor gripping the country.

CBC announced the program by Bassem Youssef, often compared to U.S. comedian Jon Stewart, would not be shown because the satirist and his producer violated its editorial policies. The announcement came just minutes before Youssef’s show “El-Bernameg,” or “The Program” in Arabic, was to air Friday night.

The pre-recorded weekly program returned to air last week after a four-month hiatus that happened as Egypt’s military toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after massive protests against his government. Youssef often mocked Morsi on the program.

His show last week strongly mocked the military fever now gripping Egypt, and poked fun at military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Military supporters immediately filed legal complaints against the show.