Head of Egypt’s censorship board resigns after dispute over showing bombshell’s steamy film

CAIRO – The head of Egypt’s censorship board says he has resigned after the country’s prime minister overruled his decision to allow a film starring a sultry Lebanese singer be shown.

Ahmed Awad, undersecretary to the culture minister and head of the censorship authority, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he had submitted his resignation Thursday morning in response to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab’s decision to stop the film from being shown.

Awad says: “I did this out of respect for myself.”

Mahlab said he stopped the film from being shown in response to calls from the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood and “to preserve the morals of our children.” In the film, Lebanese sex symbol Haifa Wehbe has a young boy infatuated with her character.