Al-Jazeera demands US$150m from Egypt for damages, journalist abuse

The Qatar-based satellite network Al-Jazeera served Egypt with a US$150 million compensation claim for what it said was damage to its media business inflicted by Cairo's military-backed rulers, a step likely to worsen Qatari-Egyptian relations.

In a move aimed at drawing attention to what Al-Jazeera calls Egypt's unacceptable treatment of it and its journalists, a lawyer acting for the pan-Arab channel said on Monday he had handed a legal document detailing the claim to a representative of the Egyptian government.

Egypt had begun a "sustained campaign" against Al-Jazeera and its journalists after the army toppled Islamist president Mohammed Mursi in July last year, said Cameron Doley, a lawyer at London law firm Carter-Ruck, which is handling the case.

"Al-Jazeera invested substantial sums in Egypt," said Doley. "The effect of this recent campaign by the military government is that this investment has been expropriated. Egypt is bound by international law to pay Al-Jazeera just and effective compensation."

Cairo had six months to settle the claim, filed in the context of a bilateral investment treaty, he said, or face an international tribunal.

A government spokesman declined to comment on the issue, saying authorities had not received notice of the case.