on press freedom in Egypt, reported that editorials in many newspapers, including Al-Ahram, had become increasingly critical of the National Democratic Party's control of the government, and the corruption of the Mubarak regime. In an interview with Reporters Without Borders, Abdel Halim Qandil, editor of the weekly magazine Al-Arabi, said that the government interfered with independent operation of Al-Ahram by controlling the printing presses and appointing the editors. Al-Ahram generated controversy in September 2010 when an Egyptian blogger, Wael Khalil, revealed that the newspaper had altered a photo of Middle East leaders walking with United States President Barack Obama so that instead of Obama leading the group, Egyptian President Mubarak was placed in the front when he was actually walking in the rearmost position. Osama Saraya, Al-Ahram's editor-in-chief, defended the altered photo, stating that it was meant to underscore Egypt's leading role in the peace process: "The expressionist photo is... a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Mubarak in the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other." Notable writers and editors Mohamed Hassanein Heikal was the long-term editor-in-chief of Al Ahram. He served in the post between August 1957 and 1974. Ali Amin served as editor-in-chief between 1974 and 1976. From 1978 to July 2006 Ibrahim Nafie was the editor-in-chief of Al Ahram. He also served as the chairman of the daily until 2005. Nafie was replaced by Osama Saraya as editor-in-chief in July 2005. In August 2012, Abdel Nasser Salama was appointed editor-in-chief of the paper by the Egyptian Shura Council. in May 2017 Alaa Thabet became the editor-in-chief of the paper. Notable writers include: Fekry Abaza Shahid Alam Khalid Amayreh Azmi Bishara Hamid Dabashi Sabah Hamamou Mohamed Hassanein Heikal served as editor-in-chief Taha Hussein Yusuf Idris Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006), awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature Anis Mansour Joseph Massad Salama Moussa Ihsan Abdel Quddous Edward Said Ahdaf Soueif References Bibliography Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp 51–58 External links Al-Ahram Digital Community uploaded non-comprehensive archive of daily issues 1965 - 1998 Egyptian Press Archive of CEDEJ (Non-comprehensive archive of articles 1970 - 2009) Edinburgh Middle East Report Al Ahram US 1875 establishments in Egypt Arabic-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in Egypt Mass media in Alexandria Newspapers established in 1875 Newspapers published in Cairo State media