Scott Pelley, the veteran correspondent and former anchor for CBS News, retracted two social media postings on Thursday that suggested there was an Egyptian warrant for his arrest as a result of his recent "60 Minutes" interview with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Pelley’s tweet and an Instagram post were removed Thursday morning after CBS News could not immediately verify the threat.
Pelley’s tweet read, in part: “I was disappointed last week when Egypt issued a warrant for my arrest. Apparently the president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, didn’t like my questions about his human rights record during our 60 Minutes interview. In my view, it is a sign of weakness when a government cannot abide truthful criticism.”
CBS News spokesman Kevin Tedesco told NBC News, “Pelley’s post was in error and has been taken down.”
In the interview, which aired on CBS News on Jan. 6, Pelley asked the Egyptian premier whether it was true that the country was holding as many as 60,000 political prisoners. El-Sisi responded: “We don’t have political prisoners.”
After the interview, Pelley was contacted by Egyptian officials and asked not to air it, according to a follow-up article by CBS News. The network rejected the request and the interview was broadcast.