Egypt Issues Arrest Warrant For Jon Stewart
The Egyptian government has issued an arrest warrant for American comedian Jon Stewart, accusing him ofÂ blasphemy and fomenting "anti-Egyptian" sentiment. The charges come just two days after Stewart used The Daily Show to blast Egyptian presidentÂ Mohammed Morsi over hisÂ harassment ofÂ Bassem Youssef, an EgyptianÂ satirist critical of his government. Youssef is the host of the wildly popularÂ El BernamegÂ (The Program), aÂ satiricalÂ news program inspired by Stewart's The Daily Show. He has been questioned by police in recent days, and the government has threatened to revoke the licence of the television station at which he works. According to aÂ statementÂ issued by Minister of JusticeÂ Ahmed Mekki, Stewart will also be charged with "contributing to theÂ delinquencyÂ of an Egyptian" for his role in inspiring Youssef to challenge the IslamistÂ regime. Mekki claims that since clips form The Daily ShowÂ areÂ rebroadcastÂ in Egypt on CNN'sÂ internationalÂ channel, Stewart is open to prosecution under Egyptian law. "Mr. Stewart has 30 days to surrender to Egyptian authorities in Cairo," the statement reads. "If he does not comply he will be tried in absentiaÂ and we will seek his extradition from the American government. "This conspiracy to defame the EgyptianÂ government violatesÂ our laws and will be prosecuted fully. Mr. Stewart may think he's funny. But in reality he is destroying the moralÂ fiberÂ of Egypt with his numerousÂ referencesÂ to penises and openly flamboyant homosexuals like Larry Craig, Marcus Bachmann, and Lindsey Graham." Some have reacted with surprise that Egypt is investing precious time and energy into pursuing a legal case against aÂ foreignÂ comedian.Â Faced with aÂ collapsingÂ economy, aÂ constitutionalÂ crisis, and an epidemic of sexual assaults, the government'sÂ resourcesÂ could perhaps be better used. However, in an exclusive interview, Mekki said there is nothing more important than defending Egypt's honor against the United States' most prominent political comedian. "We're making this our top priority," heÂ  said. "We're taking prosecutors off of sexual harassment and domestic violence cases andÂ reassigningÂ them to Stewart. These jokes simply cannot go unpunished. "We're also planning to get The Moment of Zen segment removed from the Egyptian broadcastÂ immediately. We can't haveÂ BuddhistÂ fifth infiltrating our Islamic republic." According to legal experts, Egypt's action against Stewart will have little effect as the AmericanÂ governmentÂ is unlikely to extradite him. "Egypt is aÂ sovereign country," explains oneÂ prominentÂ internationalÂ lawyer. "They can do whatever they want. But their warrants have no validity in the United States. "All this would do is stop Stewart form visiting Egypt. So I guess noÂ pyramidsÂ for him." Watch: The video that started it all.