Egypt’s army-backed interim government is reportedly moving toward banning Al Jazeera’s local affiliate.

Three government ministers issued a statement saying that Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr is operating “illegally, in violation to the profession’s standards and without a permit to work in Egypt,” the state-run news agency MENA reported.

The ministers also said the channel used satellite transmission without a license and spread “rumors and claims which are harmful to Egyptian national security and threaten the country’s unity,” without referring specifically to the broadcasts of the fugitives’ declarations.

Ongoing criticism of Al Jazeera Mubashir Misr has generated geopolitical blowback for Al Jazeera funder Qatar, which has been accused of seeking to promote extremist Islamist movements across the Middle East among other things, via biased coverage on Al Jazeera. Following the July 3 ouster of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed former President Mohammed Morsi, Al Jazeera Mubashir Misr aired statements by fugitive Islamist leaders and broadcast hours of protests by supporters of the Brotherhood and Morsi.

Last month dozens of Egypt-based Al Jazeera employees resigned over what they alleged was editorial control from Doha enforcing pro-Brotherhood coverage.

A leaked cable produced by a U.S. Ambassador to Qatar described Al Jazeera as “one of Qatar’s most valuable political and diplomatic tools.” During Morsi’s year of power, the Egyptian government received approximately $8 billion in aid from Doha.

[Photo: jurvetson / Flickr]